Keith Sandland   

10 June 1934 - 9 December 2021

Keith was born in Rotherham and was a typical Yorkshire man. He left Rotherham in his teens to move to Exmouth with his father Tom, helping him run a pub. But that was way too boring for Keith, so at the age of 18 he decided to join the military and served in Malaysia during the Malayan Emergency. Fighting communists and all those jungle creepy crawlies was much more exciting for Keith than serving beer in Devon!

Keith joined CMVC in 2007

When Keith returned from Malaysia, he moved to London and tried out various jobs. His father Tom had remarried and now had an Italian wife, Amelia.  Just for something to do, Keith started learning Italian in evening classes.

Tom, Amelia and Keith decided to visit Amelia’s family in Italy. It so happened that Amelia had a 17 year old cousin called Rita. Keith immediately fell in love with her and, on his return to London, Rita became his pen-pal. She, at that stage, was far from convinced it was anything more.

A year or so later Keith plucked up the courage to ask Rita’s father if they could marry. Rita’s father was even less convinced than Rita. He insisted Keith should have a proper job and home before he would agree to his daughter taking such a step and moving to London.

So Keith worked night and day with British Telecom to save up for a home.  After another couple of years he had progressed in the job and had purchased a maisonette in Coulsdon. Both Rita and her father then became convinced Keith was serious, with serious prospects. In 1966, Rita and Keith married.

Over the years, Keith worked his way up from being an operator to an important management role in British Telecom International. This was all as a result of the dedication initially prompted by his love for Rita.

Apart from Rita, Keith’s passions were singing, bowling and playing bridge. He was so very well liked by the members of all the clubs he joined.  He joined Croydon Male Voice Choir in 2007 and proved to be a powerful and accomplished baritone for 10 years until his ill health forced his retirement.  Rita became one of the choir’s most enthusiastic supporters, not only leading the applause in every concert but also working hard behind the scenes in activities such as selling choir CDs.

Keith grins as George apparently squares up for a fight - photo taken at recording session in 2012

Keith loved singing so much that, outside of the choir, he would lead the singing of hymns in his church, first at St Theresa`s in Biggin Hill and later at St Columba’s, accompanied by the brilliant Tony at the organ. And he would always have the biggest smile when doing so.

Keith bowled at the Croydon Adults Bowling Club, and became one of their best players. He was also the club`s secretary and was honoured with the “Surrey Leopard Award”, given for contributions to the life and well-being of the club over many years. It was hard for him to give up his bowling due to ill health.   Keith was a keen bridge player for the South Croydon Bridge Club. When the travelling got too much, he began to play online. He continued to do so for as long as he could, up until 31 July last year.

But family was always the most important part of Keith’s life.  He was very proud of his girls Francesca and Elena, especially their education, career success, and their caring and thoughtful manner. He was then proud of his granddaughter Shelby and of his great grandson Riley, who never failed to make him smile.  He never stopped talking to Francesca and Elena about his adventures in the Malaysian jungle with all its creepy crawlies. And then to Shelby too, who was fortunately interested and fascinated by it all. She learned such a lot from her grandfather.

After 55 years of marriage, Keith and Rita were still so much in love. Francesca always asked what their secret was! However after nearly 50 years visiting Rita’s home town in Italy, Keith thought it time to take Rita further afield. After his retirement they took trips to California and around Europe as well as a number of cruises.

Keith had a brilliant, adventurous life with Rita and loved his girls Francesca and Elena, as well of course Shelby and Riley.   They and all his many friends will miss him so much.

This tribute to Keith was delivered at his funeral at St Columba's, Selsdon, on 18 January 2022