Robin Street, who died on 11 May aged only 64, was a lovely man. Warm, modest and unassuming, he was always neatly dressed, cheerful and friendly.
I first got to know Robin in the early 1980s when, as a young accountant, I worked with the staff of the Gardner Arts Centre, where Robin had been employed since 1963. His work as the Front of House Manager meant that he dealt with the ‘meeting and greeting’ side of the Centre – an area in which he always excelled.
After a change of direction, he joined my team in the former Business Division in Bramber House in 1990. One project was to buy and renovate 60 private houses in Brighton for renting to students and Robin was a key member of our team of buyers, drawing on an earlier period of his life in the property business.
He then set up, from scratch, the new Alumni and Development Office. This started in one room in Sussex House with just two members of staff, and Robin’s main task was to convince the University that it had made a sensible investment. An early success with fundraising for the Centre for German-Jewish Studies showed the potential and, since then, the office has gone from strength to strength.
Robin was a Francophile and always yearned to spend time in France. After he took early retirement in 2003 he bought a house in the Lot valley near Cahors, and I know just how much he enjoyed his new life of good wine, delicious food and warm sunshine.
His funeral is at 11.30am on Wednesday 13 June in the Meeting House chapel.
Steve Pavey, formerly Finance and Business Director