The Daily Telegraph from London, Greater London, England • 25

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2006 25 OBITUARIES ON THE Download WEB telegraph.co.uk/obits obituary archive The Very Reverend Raymond Furnell Dean who consolidated York Minster's administration after having developed St Edmundsbury HE VERY REVEREND who York aged RAYMOND 70, died from was on 1994-2003 Dean Monday FURNELL, of and before that spent 13 years as Provost of Bury St Edmunds Cathedral. His appointment to York occasioned some surprise and represented a deliberate break with tradition. This senior Deanery had previously been occupied by scholars, many of them of considerable distinction, but Furnell was a non-graduate who had required a special educational course to enable him to meet the modest requirements for entry to a theological college. By 1994, however, there was not only a grave shortage of scholars ready to move to deaneries, but also the belief that the primary need of a cathedral was for a manager capable of handling the increasingly complex administration and constant financial problems. York had already moved some way in this direction in 1984 when the retirement of Dr Ronald Jasper, a distinguished historian and liturgist, coincided with a disastrous Minster roof fire, the consequences of which were deemed to require the gifts of a former archdeacon to handle.

This accomplished, it was then decided that the routine task of maintaining the largest English Gothic cathedral and the welcoming of two million visitors a year needed a top-class administrator and a strong pastor. Furnell was one of the few clergymen available to meet this requirement. Prior to ordination he had spent 10 years in the offices of shipping and oil companies in the City of London. He had also had 13 years of much admired leadership of another cathedral, during which time he had been a highly efficient secretary of the Association of English Cathedrals and served on an Archbishops' Commission on Cathedrals. Furnell was, however, 1 by no means a dull bureaucrat.

He had imagination and flair, was an attractive preacher and his strong pastoral gifts had been tested by experience in tough parishes. He constantly emphasised the vital role of a cathedral as a place where NORTH NEWS PICTURES Furnell at York Minster: his bluff manner helped to strengthen relations with both the city and the university worship was offered at its highest possible level, and on his arrival at York joined the canons in undertaking an annual period of residence (duty) at the Minster's daily services. Raymond Furnell was born in south London on May 18 1936. He attended Hinchley Wood Commercial School, Richmond, leaving when he was 16 to become a clerk in the City. As a boy his only connection with the Church was through membership of the scouts at East Sheen, and on completion of his National Service in the RAF he returned to the city.

Later, when living at Barnes, the vicar of the local church he attended encouraged him to seek Holy Orders, by which time he was 26. His vocation was recognised by a church selection conference and his limited educational background was remedied by spending two years at Brasted Place in Kent established by the church for men such as himself. Furnell then spent a further two years at Lincoln Theological John Spencer College, where attendance at the avoided, but he was trusted by both cathedral next door gave him a clergy and laity and offered lifelong love of choral worship. encouragement and hope. Before this could become his daily Among his admirers was the fare, however, there was the hard Bishop of Stafford, John Waine, slog of parish life in the industrial who, soon after his translation to Midlands.

From 1965 until 1969 he the Bishopric of St Edmundsbury was a curate at St Luke's Church, and Ipswich, invited Furnell to Cannock a Staffordshire mining become Provost of Bury St community followed by six years Edmunds cathedral. Having as Vicar of St James's Church, become a cathedral as recently as Clayton a large council-house 1913 and been greatly enhanced by estate in Newcastle-under-Lyme. the inspired work of the architect His bluff, down-to-earth manner Stephen Dykes-Bower, it remained was appreciated in these working- the parish church of the Suffolk class areas and well-ordered town, the Provost being also the worship and diligent pastoral work Rector. brought encouraging results. This dual role suited Furnell and On the strength of this, and his facilitated the carrying out of his undoubted leadership ability, he plans without the capitular was in 1975 appointed Rector of opposition frequently encountered the Hanley Team Ministry and in the older cathedrals.

These Rural Dean of North Stoke-on- included the raising of nearly £2 Trent. At the heart of the Potteries, million for the building of a new then in industrial and social wing to the cathedral housing a decline, the parishes of the Church refectory, a treasury, a song school, of England were in urgent need of vestries and offices. Under his reorganisation, and it was Furnell's leadership the cathedral's life was job to carry this out. considerably developed, its worship Difficult decisions could not be improved, and relations with the Snooker player and three-times world champion who, with Ray Reardon, dominated the game in the 19705 PA 'Gentleman John' on cue: he perfected the 'deep screw' shot Holsten Lager International, tea-break. Ironically, the first although it never became an 147 break which was official record because the recorded was scored by snooker table had oversize Steve Davis in 1982 in a pockets and it was not match played against filmed because the Spencer.

cameramen were on their Tall, dapper and quietly Milan Williams Keyboard player with the Commodores, the soul-funk band which had a hit with Three Times a which reached No 7 on the brother, Earl, to begin Billboard chart. The playing the piano. In high group went on to tour with school he formed his own Stevie Wonder and the three-piece band, but his Rolling Stones, and to write career really took off in 1967 seven No 1 hits, when Williams, taking an including Slippery When Electrical Engineering Wet, Just To Be Close to You, degree at Tuskegee Institute Easy, Nightshift, Three Times. in Alabama, became famous a Lady and Still, of on the campus for his latter two also reached No 1 keyboard skills in a funk on the pop chart. band called the Jays.

Slippery When Wet was in Williams's reputation was the same disco-dance vein as such that he came to the Machine Gun, but attention of other groups at subsequently Richie began the university, including the to emerge as the dominant Mystics, which had been influence on the band's founded by fellow student sound and they moved closer Thomas McClary in order to pop and soul ballads. "to meet The Mystics, These brought the band who at that stage already consistent success, with huge included Lionel Richie, sales for the three albums recruited Williams, along they released between 1975 with others, when two and 1977. members of the group were Milan Williams was born drafted to serve in Vietnam. on March 28 1948 at Feeling the need for a Okolona, Mississippi. As a name change, drummer child he was inspired and William King put on a encouraged by his older blindfold, opened a END COLUMN Craig Brown Way of the world Thirteen things you didn't know about lip-reading diocese strengthened.

He also devoted a good deal of time to education. York was inevitably different in scale and tradition and, although towards the end of his time there the university gave him an honorary doctorate, Furnell was always conscious that his academic limitations disappointed some who were closely associated with the Minster. He was nonetheless singularly well equipped to carry out the important reforms proposed by the Commission of which he had been a member, to overhaul the administration and put finances on a sound footing. He strengthened the Minster's relations with the city and the university and played a large part in staging the very successful Millennium Mystery Plays. But his plans suffered a serious setback when a combination of factors, including the catastrophic terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in 2001, led to a dramatic fall in the number of visitors to all of England's major cathedrals.

The consequent loss of income was particularly severe at York, thus driving Furnell and his Chapter to produce a new financial plan, based, against all their inclinations, on the imposition of admission charges to the Minster and the closure of their fine historic library. This created a storm of controversy, locally and nationally, and the Archbishop of York, David Hope, also expressed his displeasure. When, however, he had examined the Minster's accounts, he acknowledged that there was no alternative to admission charges, though money was eventually found to save the library. The controversy cast a shadow over Furnell's final year at York, but he withstood the public criticism and pointed out that he had made hard decisions to further the best interests of the Minster and to protect his successor from the need to make the same decisions soon after his arrival. It was a combination of courage and concern much appreciated in Yorkshire.

He retired to Bury St Edmunds, which he said was like "coming Furnell is survived by his wife Sherril, and by a son and three daughters. 1) An Italian lip-reader told the BBC that he had deciphered the exact words uttered by Marco Materazzi that caused Zidane to headbutt him to the ground in the World Cup final. According to the lip- Materazzi said: "I wish an ugly death on you and all your family." 2) A second Italian lip-reader claims to have deciphered what the first Italian lipreader really said to the BBC. Apparently, it was: "He was too far away and his lips were moving too fast, so I haven't the foggiest, but he must have said something really pretty rude." 3) A third Italian lip-reader claims that the second Italian lip-reader was just guessing. "He wasn't even in the room at the time he read the lips off a still snap," he says.

4) thinks A fourth that what Italian the reader Italian lip-reader actually said was: "She shed the clips off an ill chap." 5) For its first 150 years, the art of lip-reading was known as the art of owing to an operational error. For 10 years, it then became the art of lap-reading, but the results tended to be inexact. 6) It remains a developing science, or an enveloping silence, depending on who's doing the reading. 7) Lip-readers have been present at all the key historical events over the past 50 years. They have lip-read a number of important utterances by distinguished people, including: "I have bream!" (Martin Luther King), "Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your claims!" (Karl Marx), "My husband and Di" (Queen Elizabeth II), "The ladle's not for turning" (Margaret Thatcher) and "Enable vice, enable vice" (Julie Andrews).

8) Deaf people find it particularly useful to lip-read at drinks parties. "But I do find it awfully tiresome, the way the waitresses are always me if I want another sinking says Daphne, Lady Baster. "Quite frankly, what business is it of theirs?" 9) In the House of Commons, specialist lip are regularly employed Hansard to interpret the words of the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott. "Only three weeks ago, most people in the Chamber were under the impression that he was delivering a major speech calling for an to global warming," reports one of them. "But, in fact, he was complaining that he couldn't find a decent pork pie in the Commons tea room for love nor money." 10) In a surprise move last week, ventriloquists' dummies called for ventriloquists to speak more clearly.

"Many people simply don't realise that the majority of us are profoundly deaf," says Lord Charles, the long-sitting president of the Ventriloquists' Dummies Association. "Our members are increasingly complaining that whenever they look in the direction of their ventriloquist to see what is being said, his or her lips are barely moving. No wonder the audiences think we're stupid. To be honest, we sometimes feel that the ventriloquists are manipulating us. Have they no sense of common purpose?" But yesterday, the chief secretary of the Ventriloquists' Union hit back.

"Wht the dmmies are sying is so unfr," he said. "We lwys spk as distntly as pssbly cn." 11) The marine practice of biologists reading among still in its infancy, but specialists in Tampa, Florida now claim to be able to read "between 60 and 70 per cent" of what goldfish say 1 to each other. After five years studying two goldfish talking in a circular bowl, senior marine lipreaders discovered that their conversation was unusually repetitive, owing to their severely limited attention spans. The first goldfish would say: "Hello! Haven't seen you before! How long have you been here?" The second would reply: Haven't seen you before! How long have you been here?" and the first would answer by saying: "Hello! Haven't seen you before! How long have you been here?" This was enough to keep them going for the full five years. Experts are now examining the possiblity that these findings might be of use to members of our own Royal Family.

12) A senior lip-reader who spent 10 years observing two mime artistes outside a major Paris museum has just presented his findings to the LRA (Lip-Readers Assocation) annual conference. He discovered that, as a general rule, mime artistes do not speak. Only once over the course years did he manage to catch one saying something. "One stepped on the other's foot by mistake, causing the victim to mouth a silent protest. After prolonged study of all the available film footage, I am confident that what he said was: 13) The Lip-Readers Association staged its summer ball last night, but only half of those invited turned up.

"I'm not a slummer, and I have no wish to be mauled," explained one disgruntled member. JOHN SPENCER, the snooker player who died on Tuesday aged 71, was one of two players, the other being Ray Reardon, who dominated the game in the 1970s. Though eclipsed by Reardon for the top slot in world rankings, Spencer won the world championship in 1969, crushing Rex Williams, and went on to win the title again in 1971 and 1977, the latter victory, over Cliff Thorburn, being the famous inaugural championship at the Crucible in Sheffield. His success in 1969 made him only the second player ever to win on his debut. He won the BBC's Pot Black competition three times (in 1970, 1971 and 1976) and also the Benson and Hedges and Benson and Hedges Irish masters' titles, in 1975 and 1978 respectively.

In Scotland in 1979 he made the first 147 maximum break in tournament play during the MILAN WILLIAMS, who died on July 9 aged 58, was the keyboard player of the 1970s soul-funk band the Commodores, whose song Three Times a Lady (1978) became Motown's biggestselling record. The Commodores shot to fame after supporting Jackson Five in 1970, the year after the Jacksons themselves had become famous with I Want You Back. Original members of the band included vocalist and saxophone-player Lionel Richie, guitarist Thomas McClary, trumpeter William King, vocalist and drummer Walter Orange, and bass guitarist Ronald La Pread. After the band signed to the Motown record label in 1972, Williams, otherwise known as "Captain Quick wrote the Commodores' first hit, the synthesizer-pumped instrumental Machine Gun, spoken, "Gentleman John" Spencer was one of the first players to perfect the "deep screw" shot and to use a two-piece cue. But his unflappable temperament was perhaps his greatest asset.

He never practised much, explaining that: "If I played eight hours a day, I'd pack in snooker before the season's up." But he enjoyed the proximity of the crowd, explaining that being a snooker player was rather like being a "comedian who needs close audience contact to help him John Spencer was born at Radcliffe, Manchester, on June 18 1935 and learned to play snooker as a boy at a church institute. Within a short time he was performing century breaks. Snooker was mainly a club and pub game during his youth, and Spencer was discouraged by his headmaster from pursuing his talent. It was not until 1968 that he returned to the sport, after completing his was prescribed steroids that National Service in the RAF caused mood swings and and failing to settle in a long periods of depression. variety of jobs, including He spent time in a labourer, van driver and psychiatric hospital and, at betting-office settler.

He did one point, contemplated not become professional suicide. In he separated until 1967, when interest in from Margot, his wife of 18 the game started to revive. years, with whom he owned For many years he played a snooker club and bar in with a cue, bowed and with a Bolton. The mood swings butt worn with age, that he affected his game and he had bought for eight retired in 1992. In shillings.

woke An active member of the 1985 Spencer up sport's body, from an afternoon nap and World Professional Billiards found that he had double and Snooker Association, vision. At first he put it down Spencer served as its to late nights and too much chairman from 1990 to 1996. drink, but he was eventually He also worked as a diagnosed with the commentator on the BBC. autoimmune disease In 2003 Spencer was myasthenia gravis. At the diagnosed with stomach British Open in Derby he cancer but eventually admitted that he could see refused treatment in order to two of each ball "I never enjoy the rest of his life free quite know which is the right from the side-effects of ball to aim at and often it's chemotherapy.

"When your pot luck if I choose time is up, that's it," he correctly," he explained. The observed. disease took its toll, but its He is survived by his treatment was worse he companion, Jean Sheffield. SPORTSPHOTO AGENCY Williams (right, back): 'Once, twice, three times a brother' dictionary at random and which was on the same placed his finger on the page page.) at the entry for (King later recalled that the group came within centimetres of calling themselves the Commodes, Lady band to pursue a successful solo career. The Commodores carried on, and indeed wrote some of their most famous songs, including Only You and Nightshift.

The latter was arguably their greatest hit and the song which which won them a Grammy Award in 1985. Their success was such that they became widely known as the Black Beatles. Later the same year the Commodores left Motown to join Polydor; the partnership initially looked promising, but subsequent releases proved less successful. Williams is survived by his wife Melanie, whom he married in 2000, and by two sons. Orange said of Williams: "He was once, twice, three times a brother and we love him.

He gave all that he could give to the Commodores. He'll always be remembered." CHURCHILL'S STAIRLIFTS A CHURCHILL'S Friendly PROMISE Staff or Curved Lifts THE Straight Models Professional Advice New or Reconditioned 2 Days Quality Products Installation in as as Nationwide Service Future 'Buy Back' 12 Months Full Warranty Guaranteed CHURCHILL'S STAIRLIFTS CALL FREE 0800 371 982 AND ASK FOR ANDREA, CATHERINE OR VICKY 7 DAYS A WEEK 9am 6pm CODE: KL02 the early 1980s, after the commercial failure of the band's attempts at a more experimental blend of funk and rock, Richie left the.