Ronald T Upstone I met Ron in the mid 80s soon after joining ABC in Bahrain. My department, Internal Audit was the immediate neighbour of the Credit Department led by Ron , with both departments situated on the Eighth floor of ABC Tower. My introduction to expatriate life was in large part made easier by the warmth and kindness of Ron, an attentive and engaged neighbour, who wore his intellectual rigor and professionalism so lightly. It was always going to be easy to strike it off well with a person, who while a professional banker and Scotsman to his fingertips, shared a common birthplace with my parents, who were both natives of Kingston, Jamaica. Apart from his generosity of spirit and the the wisdom of his guidance, technical and personal , I had special cause to envy a specific gift of Ron’s,which I try to emulate to this day ( if only with limited success). Within our department and among the staff members who cared about such things, he was known as ‘one take Ron’ honouring his unmatched and phenomenal drafting ability. This quality involved the seemingly effortless talent for mentally conceptualizing, and committing to paper in the most elegantly flowing and fluent handwriting ( without error or correction)some of the most complex banking ideas and arguments one could imagine, in what appeared to be a single movement. Ron made it look so easy. What we were in fact witnessing, and I now celebrate, were the fruits of decades of dedication and commitment to the profession of banking as well as effective communication. I and others can bear witness to such ‘incidents’, which we assure you all are embedded not just in one’s memory but deeper, in one’s psyche, for years and infact decades afterwards. It was an impressive feat which I saw several times during my 20+ years at ABC from Ron and perhaps only one other close colleague (Günter Buhr). This spoke to their mental,clarifying and explanatory skills but also that rare power and talent for clean execution. I’ve always aimed for such performance in my own career and Ron will always be the benchmark and North Star for such stellar work . It was a special privilege when Ron and Gill visited Abu Dhabi in February 2018 in their retirement and we were able to dine with them in the relaxed atmosphere of our favourite restaurant, Brauhaus. Similarly,it was pleasant to correspond with them both this Spring on how they were coping with the privations accompanying the Covid related lockdown. If I may, I’d like to go back to the very beginning of my friendship with Ron which bridges not only his time of leadership in Bahrain but also those tumultuous and challenging years in the run up the Asian crisis in the mid to late 90s. I was the beneficiary of much candid career advice and guidance about my prospects and the business environment, which I am glad to say that I took to heart and acted on. I never regretted taking his advice and was glad to be able to say ‘Thankyou’ to Ron and Gill during their 2018 visit. In those early days in 1985 after joining ABC and settling in Bahrain after several relentless years on the road , traveling the world with an American bank, I was in need of a car. I was told that Ron had a rather nice and well looked after vehicle for sale, as he was intending to trade up to something rather more family oriented. I visited his office close by for a chat and he filled me in on the details . On offer was a rather fabulously well kept Porsche 944! I tempered my enthusiasm and mustered as much fake restraint and sang-froid as I could. Unsurprisingly, a deal was reached and terms were quickly agreed. The Byzantine arrangements then in place for the ownership transfer of vehicles in Bahrain would be overseen and taken care of by the far more experienced Ron, who, without the slightest patronizing hint of irony, suggested that concluding matters in this way would also give me enough time to learn to drive and obtain a driving license for this, my first car. I’ve dined out on that true story for literally decades since. My warmest and sad condolences to Gill and family on their loss. RIP Ron. Clive Gallier Abu Dhabi August 1st 2020