Leaders of the city's banking world said goodbye to former HSBC chief John Gray at a service at St John's Cathedral in Central yesterday.
Gray, who during his time as chief of the Asian arm of HSBC in the 1990s was among the most popular and recognisable corporate figures in the region, died at the age of 75.
Current chairman Vincent Cheng Hoi-chuen described Gray as a great and loyal friend.
'Everyone he worked with he treated with the utmost respect and care,' Cheng said in his eulogy. 'He never looked for any credit for himself, but instead would rather give the credit to his team and co-workers. He was a very dear friend.'
Cheng also spoke of Gray's great sense of humour. 'At a lunch with some younger colleagues, one of the more naive members there asked him what he did,' he said. 'He said he was a number cruncher. When it was pointed out by another that his job was much more important than that, he replied: 'Oh yes, I'm the chief number cruncher.' He was a very friendly, approachable man.'
Born in Hong Kong in 1934, the son of a Hongkong Bank executive and the great-nephew of another, Gray owed his start at the bank to his father, Samuel.