It is with great sadness that we report to all Old Pauline Football Club members and supporters of the death of Nick Carr who passed away peacefully on Monday at home with his family.
Nick needs no introduction as one of the longest serving and highest capped OPFC players of all time, playing over 700 games, including 564 caps for the 1st XV where he was part of the legendary front row comprised of Carr, Boardman and Harding, who played well over a thousand 1st XV matches between them. He served as 1st XV and Club Captain from 1975-80 and 1985-86, Chairman from 1990 to 1994 and Hon. Treasurer from 2000 to 2005. Nick also spent a great many enjoyable years playing for the B XV.
As the current playing membership will know, Nick was a regular and vocal “balcony boy” and attended most home games and functions.
After attending St Paul’s School from 1963-67, where he played for the 2nd XV and rowed in the 1st VIII, Nick studied at RAF Cranwell before embarking on a highly successful career as a chartered surveyor.
Nick joined the Worshipful Company of Plaisterers in 1976, serving as Steward and then Renter Warden in 1997 before joining the court the following year. Unusually, he served a two-year term as Master in 2006-2008, an opportunity he was deeply honoured to have had. His other passions included the Old Pauline Lodge, of which he was Master in 1998, and his local church, Little Bookham, where he served three terms as churchwarden from 1989-1992, 1999-2003 and 2006-2009 and set up a charity dedicated to preserving the fine 11th Century listed building.
Above all, Nick was passionate about anything Old Pauline and all that he felt being an OP stood for. Nick was elected Vice President of the Old Pauline Club in 1995, deputy president in 2008 and then served two years as president from 2009-2011, presiding at the Guildhall dinner for over 700 members to mark the quincentenary of St Paul’s School. He was a Director of Colets and was instrumental in the recent refurbishment works to the club itself, which helped turn it into a thriving health club with a turnover of £4m.
We will miss his unfailing support, his enthusiasm, his guidance, his wry smile and the knowing twinkle in his eye. We thank him for everything he has done for the club and the amazing legacy he leaves behind.
Our thoughts are with his wife, Helen, and all his family.