Born in County Durham, Ray joined the Bermuda Police in July 1964 and, along with a group of 9 overseas recruits, together with Wayne Perinchief and Del Trott, he attended Basic Training Course #5 before being posted to Central Division (Hamilton) and then to Operations (Traffic).
Ray was a super fit sportsman. He was a regular player on one of our best ever Police football teams, and was introduced to squash by Clive Donald when squash was played at the former millitary court at Prospect with its leaky roof and concrete floor. Ray quickly took to the game and became a member of the Bermuda Squash team, playing both here and abroad.
An exceptionally talented Bermuda Police Football Team
In 1966 Ray and three of his colleagues, Duncan Batchelor, Mike Caulkett and Jim McIlwain embarked on an 8,000 mile road trip around the U.S. and Mexico, and in July 1967 Ray decided to emigrate to Canada where he and his wife Sylvia settled in Vancouver. Ray took up teaching and stayed active with lots of cycling and gym work, and over the years he and Sylvia have hosted and entertained many of his former colleagues from the Bermuda Police. CLICK HERE to read more about Ray in our "Then and Now" column.
We last heard from Ray earlier this year when he mentioned that he was looking forward to some of the World Cup football matches which are scheduled to be played in Vancouver next year.
Rayand Sylvia with their two sons, daughter and two grandchildren
We offer our sincere condolences to Sylvia and their 3 children and grandchildren, and to his good friends Dave and Elizabeth Needham. It was Dave who forwarded to us the sad news of Ray’s passing.
18th October 2025
29th October 2025
The following Tribute to Ray Banks was posted in the West Hartepool Rugby website by Dave Picken on 19th October 2025
Sad news from Canada of the death of former West and Canada centre Ray Banks ....
Ray was part of a West contingent who headed off to Canada in the late 1960's, which included George Green, Ken Wilkie and John Smith who are all also no longer with us. As a powerful centre he went on to play for Canada, and his 1971 blazer for the Tour of Wales is among the memorabilia on show in the clubhouse.
Ray also played for Durham Under 15's, while his career saw him serve with the police in Bermuda followed by a teaching career in Vancouver. Thoughts are with wife Sylvia and Rob, Chris and Jenny
CLICK HERE to view the tribute to Ray on their website
30th October 2025
Edward Raymond "Ray" Banks
The following obituary to Ray Banks was published in the The Vancouver Sun & The Province on 29th October 2025:-
It is with profound sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Edward Raymond "Ray" Banks, age 83 years.
Ray was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, teacher, and coach whose warmth, generosity, and integrity touched countless lives. He dedicated his life to education and athletics, inspiring students and athletes alike with his leadership, kindness, and unwavering commitment to others.
Ray spent his teaching career at William Osler Elementary School and Kitsilano Secondary School, where he was cherished by colleagues and students for his kindness and ability to bring out the best in young people. His passion for sport, especially rugby, was a defining part of his life. He proudly represented Canada on the National Rugby Team and was a member of the UBC Thunderbirds rugby program, forming lifelong friendships through the game he loved.
He is survived by his loving wife Sylvia; his children Chris (Nevada), Rob (Meredith), and Jennifer (Sean); and his grandchildren Emily and Grace.
A celebration of life will be held at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club on November 14, 2025, at 2:00 p.m.
He will be deeply missed and remembered with love.
Celebration of Life for Ray Banks
We have heard from Sylvia Banks that the celebration of life for Ray went off beautifully on Friday November 14.
The setting was perfect, overlooking his favorite Vancouver beach, and the north shore mountains. There were over 200 people there including friends, family, former colleagues, former students, former team mates, pickleball players, squash mates, and recent students he had been teaching.
His son Chris gave the keynote speech which is attached below.
This was followed by a speech from Rod Holloway, one of his UBC rugby teammates, and then his good friend Peter De Witt, who spoke to him almost daily.
Peter’s daughters also benefitted from Ray’s math tutoring skills, with both girls excelling in school, eventually. They added color and the humor to the event.
It ended with a lovely photo montage video about Ray which is best viewed on a browser rather than an App on a mobile device. CLICK HERE to view it.
Sylvia added, “We are all managing with heavy hearts, but glad that he went suddenly with no suffering. We all feel like a piece of us is missing. “
Good afternoon everyone, Thank you all so much for coming from far and near. It’s wonderful to see so many of the people that loved Ray in one room, we are so happy to see everyone, and feel supported by all of you being here.
There is so much to say about my dad…..He was an Englishman, A Canadian, a wonderful teacher, a successful coach, a phenomenal rugby player, an avid reader of crime fiction, a police officer, a Bermudan soccer star, a prolific tutor, a fitness and racquet sport fanatic, a master gardener, the baker of amazing English Xmas cakes, a loving son and father, a loyal husband, and a man who lived every single day of his life with few complaints and with positivity. He was a man of kindness wrapped in quiet determination. He was the man in the neighborhood known by name to everyone due to his welcoming and accepting nature.
He was also extremely humble; as I say this, I can already hear dad groaning “Bloody hell”. He’d absolutely hate this; he’d say we were overdressed, spent too much money on the event, and feel deeply uncomfortable with people standing around saying nice things about him, or talking about him at all. But anyone who knew him understands that he lived a life worth celebrating—full of meaning, humility, and quiet strength, things that feel in short order in today’s world. Our Ray, as his English family called him, was the one we could count on.
Ray’s life began humbly, during World War II in the small mining town of Easington Colliery; he spent his childhood in Hartlepool, England. Ray’s earliest memories were of hiding under the staircase during bombing raids wearing a mickey mouse gas mask. His mother, Winnie, was the daughter of a miner and worked as a shopkeeper, and his father, Herbert, was a bus driver who’d been raised by relatives after losing his mother at birth. Together they taught Our Ray the values that would define his life: kindness, humility, and a strong sense of duty. He grew up with loving parents, six cousins who were like siblings, and the kind of freedom few kids experience today—running the streets, organizing football games, and swimming at the beach in Seaton Carew. He loved those years. Even though times were lean, he always said, “We had everything we needed.”
From an early age, Our Ray had a strong sense of fairness and justice. He’d stand up to bullies and defend the vulnerable—something that was a lifelong instinct. To put it mildly, he was not one to turn the other cheek. Something that he taught his sons and that we both deeply internalized, maybe a bit too much. He worked hard too—three paper routes as a teenager, a job at a lumber yard at sixteen where he was quickly promoted to tallyman because of his math skills. That work ethic and self-reliance never left him. He had what he called a “waste not, want not” mentality, shaped by ration books, blackouts, and postwar austerity.
Eventually, Our Ray sought adventure beyond the narrow streets of Hartlepool. He joined the Bermuda Police—he was chosen, mainly, he’d later admit, because he could play rugby and soccer and looked good in the uniform. He spent three years there, representing Bermuda in soccer at the national level, before setting off for Vancouver in the mid-1960s with his close friends, the late George Green and Ken Wilkinson. Rugby became central in his new life. He played for the UBC Thunderbirds, the powerhouse teams of the early 1970s that are in the UBC Sports Hall of Fame. He represented Canada on tour in Wales, captained BC against Australia, and helped form the first UBC Old Boys club—still thriving today. Through the game, he built lifelong friendships. On and off the pitch, he led with quiet confidence and integrity—the same ‘Our Ray’ his family had known all along, just in a new country.
But rugby was only one chapter; Our Ray was also a teacher, mentor, and coach—professions that suited his steady way with young people. From Cecil Rhodes to William Osler Elementary to Kitsilano Secondary, he taught with humor, empathy, and quiet (and sometimes not quiet) authority. He saw the best in others and helped them see it too. He coached youth soccer, rugby, and countless school teams, in the early 2000’s, he took a group of green grade 8’s at Kitsilano and by grade 12, he had taken them on tour to Australia and turned them into one of the top 3 high school rugby teams in province, in fact, the best public school in BC . Several of the boys he coached would go on to represent B.C. and Canada, some even playing in the Rugby World Cup. His students and players remember him as detailed, fair, calm, and kind—the teacher who listened, the coach who believed in you. A teacher who left a legacy.
As a father, Our Ray was wonderful in his own understated way. He never forced me, Rob or Jenny, into anything. But if we signed up for something, he made sure we stuck with it. He believed in commitment and seeing things through. He didn’t pressure me to be like him, but somehow, I ended up following his path anyway: a rugby player, a teacher, and a coach. That’s the kind of influence he had—quiet, consistent, and powerful. He showed love through action: giving his time. fixing things, showing up, doing the small, reliable things. He wasn’t the type to hug, and he didn’t hand out praise easily, but when he did, it meant the world.
In his later years, Ray mellowed but never lost that sense of independence. Retirement never slowed him down; he started a thriving tutoring business and continued to adapt to new kids and new technology. With Sylvia’s help, he learned how to teach on Zoom during the pandemic and continued to make connections, successfully turning some of the most hopeless math students in the city into academic stars(no exaggeration). He was immensely proud (borderline obsessive)—of being self-reliant and healthy. His daily habits, his diet, his frugality—they could drive Sylvia absolutely nuts—but that was him. Principled, disciplined, and unapologetically himself.
Voltaire wrote that to find meaning in life, “one must cultivate one’s own garden.” And that’s exactly what Our Ray did—both literally and figuratively—every day of his life. His garden wasn’t just the magnificent one behind the house, though he tended that with great care and pride, pruning, watering, and fussing over each plant. His real garden was the world around him—the people he taught, coached, and loved. He cultivated patience, kindness, and curiosity in those he met. He had a way with people that made them feel comfortable and seen.
Without ever stating it, I believe that his philosophy was that if we all helped our neighbors, showed up, and did the right thing—it would all add up to something good. That’s how he lived: not for recognition, but with quiet purpose and a sense of responsibility.
My dad’s last day was perfectly him: cycling to Jericho Beach for pickleball, tending to his garden, tutoring a student, and finishing the evening with his crime novel before bed. He lived a long, full, and meaningful life with no regrets—healthy, active, and strong right to the end. Our Ray lived the way he wanted to—independent, content, and grateful for every day.
Ray Banks: a husband, father, grandfather, teacher, coach, and friend—but above all, he was a good man. He lived simply, gave generously, and loved deeply. The twinkle in his eye, the dry wit, the kindness in his English lilt—those are what we’ll carry with us. He gave far more than he ever received, not for recognition, but because it was simply who he was.
So let’s not say goodbye to Ray. Let’s keep him here in our hearts and learn from his example—. If each of us tends to our own gardens the way Our Ray tended to his, then he’ll never really be gone. His spirit will live on in the kindness we show, and the time and effort we give to others.
Dad you made the world brighter just by being in it. And now it’s up to us to keep that light growing.
Published 16th November 2025