It is with sadness that we inform the Rhodes Community of the death of Hamilton Anthony Long, former Registrar of Finance (1990-2009), and employee benefit fund Principal Officer during his tenure as Registrar of Finance, and again in retirement.

Tony passed away on Thursday 21 November 2019 at his home in Port Alfred surrounded by family, after a hard and brave fight with cancer.

He was raised in the Eastern Cape, matriculating from Elliot High School in 1965.  He went on to study for a career in accounting at the University of Natal, and do his accounting articles in Durban, where he met and married the love of his life, Dee.  After he had qualified as a chartered accountant in 1972, Tony and Dee spent a number of years in the USA, where Tony gained invaluable experience as an Audit Manager at Hurdman & Cranstoun of New York.  Returning to South Africa, he set about building his career as an audit partner at Arthur Hopewell & Co in Durban, followed by appointment as the Financial Director to the Knowles Supermarket Group in Pinetown, before returning to auditing as a partner at BDO Spencer Steward.

The family moved to Grahamstown in 1990 when Tony joined the senior leadership of Rhodes University.  As Registrar of Finance he played an institutional and national role, and was well respected by his colleagues both within the University and the broader higher education sector.  He was known for his active support of the intellectual project, his firmness in not entertaining deficit budgets, his active external engagement with alumni, and his introduction of technology transfer initiatives.  He was a director of a number of organisations which served Higher Education including PURCO and the Molteno Project.  He was an avid but discerning reader, of biographies in particular which he loved discussing, and was a connoisseur of wine.  Few who worked at Rhodes during his tenure and since will not have met, sought advice from, interacted with, and been influenced by this gentle giant, affectionately known as “Big T”.

In 2009, Tony chose to retire to Kasouga because it is “the most beautiful place on earth”, and because he had spent time there in his childhood and youth.  In later life he put much energy into the Kasouga Commonage Trust.

He served as the financial expert on a number of private and public interest trusts and councils, and was a non-executive director of the GBS Mutual Bank for several decades, chairing the bank’s audit committee.

When the university called on him in 2012 to serve as the part-time principal officer for the pension and provident funds, and the medical aid schemes, he did not hesitate, and has served in that capacity until this week. 

A very devoted family man, Tony is survived by his wife Dee, his two children David and Bronwyn, both of them Rhodes alumni and married to alumni Jeremy and Kelly. He leaves four grandchildren Hannah, Sophie, Christopher and Nicole.  Tony was very close to his brother David who happens to be married to Dee’s sister Dianne. We express our heartfelt condolences to them all, and to extended family, friends, and colleagues who will miss him.

Tony will be fondly remembered for his integrity, his generosity, his love of a good story, his enjoyment of sport, and his willingness to be of service to others in a modest behind-the-scenes manner that makes it impossible to know the real extent of the contributions he made during his life. 

Last Modified: Tue, 14 Jan 2020 11:31:49 SAST