Family pays tribute to RAF veteran and classic car aficionado Raymond Day following death at age of 88

An RAF fighter pilot, who was well known around Pebmarsh for restoring classic cars, has died.

Raymond Day died on March 13, aged 88, after a sudden heart complication, leaving behind his wife of 63 years, Barbara, and their children, Nick, Dave, Kathryn, Robert, Helen, and Sue. Mr Day had 15 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Daughter Kathryn Carling said: “Although he had reached the grand age of 88, it was still a shock to lose him, as he was leading a full and active life until just a few hours before his passing. He was both a gentle man and a gentleman, full of goodness.”

Mr Day was often seen taking daily walks around Pebmarsh, a village he loved, especially the ‘warmth and courtesy of the people’ and the fish and chips served at his local pub.

Born in Gibraltar, where his father served in the Navy, he would go on to enter service himself – for the RAF in the 1950s. He had a long career in buying, selling and restoring classic sports cars in Cavendish.

Mr Day was a science, maths and PE teacher at St Louis Middle School in Bury St Edmunds, as well as a player for the town rugby team. He got married in Harlow in Essex and had a spell living in Glemsford.

Mrs Carling added: “On our village walks he would always stop, listen, gaze upwards and, squinting into the brightness, observe a passing plane, the clouds, the wind or even a swooping bird.

“We like to think that last Saturday he was reunited with that big, blue expanse ... the place that represented freedom, speed and exhilaration.”

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