Ruscombe Charles was born at Rock Farm, Longhope, Gloucestershire, on 1st June 1938. He was named after two of his uncles who were lost in the Great War and are commemorated on the Menin Gate.

Ruscombe grew up on Rock Farm where his father was a pig farmer. He was one of 4 children and most of his time on the farm was spent with his younger sister, with whom he rode ponies and did pony club and usual farm activities. Holidays were spent either on the farm or visiting aunts in Torquay and Granny in London. Aged 9, unknown to many, he had a stroke and was hospitalised for a significant time. Adapting to this life change meant he learnt to write left-handed (hence the appalling handwriting). He was challenged by ball sports and had to avoid contact sports. He has surprised doctors on more than one occasion in his ability to pull through.

Ruscombe attended Brightlands Preparatory School in Newnham. Having won all the top prizes, he then won an open scholarship to Marlborough College where he studied classics. From here he went on to study more classics at Clare College, Cambridge. This was quite an achievement, having once scored a zero in Latin at prep school. He took up rowing and became captain of boats. Visiting Henley became an annual feature, catching up with his rowing friends.

After Cambridge he trained as a chartered accountant at Peat Marwick Mitchell in London. He stayed there for 6 years before moving to Brandt’s Merchant Bank. During this time, he met and married Virginia in 1965, who was nursing at St Thomas’ Hospital. They went to live in Chesham, Bucks and he commuted to London for work throughout. Virginia worked at Amersham General Hospital and in 1968 Emma arrived, and they moved to Little Gaddesden where they have lived ever since. A second daughter, Susie, arrived in 1970. He made time to teach the girls how to ride bicycles. Family holidays were spent in Norfolk or Cornwall with the occasional overseas trip. On the Broads in Norfolk, at Virginia’s mother’s house, they would mess around in boats, rowing, sailing and swimming in the river. In Polzeath, he taught the girls to surf and was the master at building sandcastles with the garden spade, which were big enough to accommodate all the kids on the beach.

Following Brandts’, Rus worked at Barclays Merchant Bank, where he was involved with various amalgamations and take overs. He then helped organise and set up BZW as a result of Big Bang 80s. After a spell at Business in the Community, he went to Moscow as Director of Financial Administration with the Russian Project Finance Bank. This was followed in 1986 by various banking and finance jobs in the Eastern Bloc and the Middle East, which involved leaving Little Gaddesden for several months at a time.

Finally, this came to an end in 2006 after his last project in Amman, Jordan, when the start of tiresome medical conditions reared their head and he retired back to Little Gaddesden. He became church warden for at least 9 years and was a huge support to the church, regularly cutting the grass and used his accountancy skills to organise the church roof appeal. He rang the church bells, sang in the church choir and went travelling with his singing with the Berkhamsted Choral Society. He was treasurer of the Little Gaddesden British Legion, and he was an avid campaigner for the Conservatives, canvassing for years and helping run the Conservative village fete. Rus was also a huge supporter to the countryside and was involved in maintaining many rural traditions.

Rus was a family man, with extremely strong morals and values which have left a lasting impression. He kept himself fit and was sentimental, taking pride in the fact that he wore his ‘going away wedding suit’ at his golden wedding anniversary lunch. On the 19th of June, Rus and Virginia celebrated their diamond wedding, and he caught up with his siblings, children and grandchildren.

He very much participated in and enjoyed village life, and not being able to contribute over the last few years was a sadness and frustration to him.