Life Stories
Anthony Ranzetta
Anthony Richard Ranzetta (1955 BA Literae Humaniores) died on 3 February 2026 aged 90.
Anthony Richard Ranzetta (Deacon Tony) was born in Caterham, Surrey, on 31 May 1935. He had two older brothers, Gerald and Michael, and a younger brother, Rodney. Michael died when Tony was only three years old. The other two both became distinguished academics.
Before going to Oxford, he undertook two years’ National Service in the RAF, where he learnt Russian and where he was recruited along with other Oxford students by the Joint Services School for Linguists, attached to the Intelligence Corps. He had intended to read Theology at Keble but thanks to the kindness of the then college Warden, Sir Eric Abott, and the college governors, he was allowed to keep his place at the college, having converted to Roman Catholicism in a ceremony ministered by Cardinal Heenan, and took his final degree in Literae Humaniores.
To his Oxford BA, he later added a London University MA in Russian language and literature, for which he studied part-time, while teaching at Barking Abbey Grammar school.
Tony met his wife Eve while at Oxford, where she was studying at Somerville College and they were engaged to be married, blessed by Mgr Val Elwes at the Oxford University chaplaincy in their final year at Oxford. They were married in Saint Edward’s Catholic Church in Romford on 1 August 1959.
Tony and Eve went on to have two children, Tony and Bernie, three grandchildren, Michael, Frances and Alex and three great-grandchildren Carlo, Bella and Leo.
Tony secured the post of Head of Classics at Barking Abbey Grammar School. During his time there, he was able to take pupils on a trip through Berlin and into Russia at the height of the Cold War. It was at this time that he was appointed a magistrate to serve on the Beacontree bench, later transferring to the Barking bench, serving on a number of committees. He was a magistrate for 25 years.
In 1974 he was appointed Head of Mayesbrook comprehensive school in Dagenham before retiring in 1991 to be trained for the ministry of Deacon in the Catholic Church and was ordained by Bishop Thomas McMahon on 11 June 1994. As deacon, he participated in church services in the dioceses of both Brentwood and East Anglia and visited the sick and elderly in Sudbury, Suffolk. He also supported nearby Clare Priory, where he frequently attended morning prayer and mass and where he conducted at least 50 baptisms.
After Eve’s death in 2008, which was sudden and totally unexpected, Tony continued to enjoy the tranquillity of life at his home on the outskirts of Lavenham, although kept his love of fast cars and was often spotted in his dog collar, driving around the Suffolk countryside in his red, open-topped Cappuccino Sport Car with its REV number plate.
Tony retired from the diaconate on his 75th birthday but continued to reside peacefully at his home in Suffolk until the last year of his life when he was looked after at St Joseph’s Care Home in Sudbury. He celebrated his 90th birthday there in May 2025 with his family.
Tony died peacefully at West Suffolk Hospital on 3 February 2026.
Kindly provided by his son, Bernie