Memorial Service: George Pinto

Baroness Rabbi Julia Neuberger welcomed friends to the West London Synagogue for a memorial service for George Pinto, celebrated merchant banker, prize-winning amateur golfer and legendary eccentric.

Pinto’s nephew, Lord (Simon) Marks of Broughton, gave the main eulogy for his uncle George, who died in a car crash near Sandwich Golf Course in Kent.

‘George was the longest serving member of his favourite club, the Royal St George’s Golf Club at Sandwich, having joined the Club in 1948,’ said Lord Marks. ‘On the news of his death, the club flag was flown at half-mast and many of its members are here this evening.

‘Anecdotes from his years at St George’s abound: how, on Christmas Day, the course would be opened just for him; how he often preferred to play alone, hitting two differently weighted balls, A and B, and how, in defiance of convention, he would play through groups ahead of him with an imperious “Excuse me”.’

When offered a drink at the club bar, Pinto would request a glass of milk. Lord Marks recalled, too, how ‘George was playing one of his solitary games when he came across a couple in an intimate embrace. “Are you members?” he inquired.’

‘He spent nearly 40 years at Kleinwort’s,’ said Marks. ‘In private, he always referred to the firm as “The Dump”. He became the longest-serving director of its corporate finance department and was a driving force in the bank’s success in winning advisory work for the many privatisations under Margaret Thatcher.

‘At Kleinwort’s, George achieved near-legendary status as the most precise and punctilious proofreader of any document. Eye witnesses describe him sitting at his desk with lectern and Anglepoise. His daily routine was to arrive at Kleinwort’s Fenchurch Street headquarters at around 12pm and work late into the evening before leaving for a club where he stayed until the early hours.’

When Pinto died, Lord Rothschild wrote to George’s sister: ‘He was the most “unlike anybody else” character I have ever known – principled, kind, exemplary in every detail, a devoted and loyal friend to the people and causes he believed in.’ JAMES HUGHES-ONSLOW