My son, Richard Orna, who has died aged 40 of a brain tumour, was an inspiring and well-respected IT manager. In his last years he became an ambassador for Brain Tumour Research.
As managing director of Callisto, an energy solutions company, Rick had vision and strategy. He worked to secure the IT for its smart meters and ensured that half-hourly readings could be delivered. He also supervised the takeover of a rival IT company, bringing it within Callisto to make their product more secure.
More important, however, was the joy he found in his work, in seeing potential in individual members of his staff and encouraging them to use their strengths. He was in his element with his warm and likable personality, having the opportunity to take forward his own ideas and those of his colleagues.
Born in north London, Rick became a lifelong Arsenal fan. I worked as a librarian and his father, Jonathan Orna, was a housing manager for Camden council.
After his father and I separated in 1994, Rick moved to Bristol with me and his older siblings, Henry and Sally, where he attended Westbury-on-Trym primary school.
He then won an assisted place at Queen Elizabeth’s hospital school in the city, before studying psychology at Leicester University.
After graduation in 2008, Rick moved back to Bristol and became an assistant manager for a pub chain. Exhausted after 18 months of long hours and a hardline culture, he left and vowed to treat people better in the workplace.
He got a job at Bristol city council, initially as an administrative assistant, working his way up through different roles before moving into the private sector as a senior IT manager for Bristol Water from 2017. He joined Bristol Energy two years later, before being headhunted by Callisto, a subsidiary of M Group, in 2021.
Rick had met Maja Buchwald, a biomedical scientist, through a houseshare, and they married in 2013 in Wrocław, Poland.
In 2022 Rick collapsed with a grade-4 brain tumour. This was a new phase of life for the couple, who nevertheless stayed positive. Rick embraced new treatments, mentored newly diagnosed sufferers, talked about his illness on BBC Radio 5 and lobbied his MP for more research.
His colleagues, family and friends joined him in fundraising for Brain Tumour Research, including a walking challenge with Henry and a sponsored yoga month by Sally and me. At work they held a football tournament with the “Orna shield” as a prize, his teams supporting their boss to the end.
He is survived by Maja, Jonathan and me, and by Henry and Sally.
