Michael Leonard John Emery, who attended RGS between September 1974 and December 1980, passed away unexpectedly, but peacefully on 2nd February 2023, aged 60. 

Mike was born and raised in High Wycombe.  He was always especially grateful for the superb education he gained at RGS, mainly thanks to its exceptionally talented staff.  He studied French, German and Economics to A Level standard and gained an additional O Level in Swedish.  After completing a seventh term in the autumn of 1980, he gained a place at Oriel College, Oxford, to study French and German, from the autumn of 1981. 

At RGS he played the oboe in the School Orchestra and Wind Band and participated in the RAF Section of the CCF.  He was also a School Prefect. 

Upon graduation from university, he spent two years in Japan as a teacher of English as a foreign language.  When he returned to the UK, he started a career in the City with the Mitsubishi Bank as a Project Finance Manager, dealing with major infrastructure projects throughout the World.  The final stage of his career involved a move to the International Finance Corporation, which is part of the World Bank. 

In a letter of condolence to Mike’s wife, Miyako, the President of the World Bank wrote that ‘Michael was highly appreciated for his warmth, kindness, generosity of spirit and his very British sense of humour’.  Apart from Miyako, with whom he was married for 23 years, Mike leaves a son, Thomas, aged 19. 

He will be sorely missed by the many Wycombiensians who knew and liked him.