Stephen Raymond was born in Karachi, Pakistan. His father was Judge Edward Raymond.[1] He was educated at St Patrick's High School, Karachi. He received his religious training at the Papal Seminary, Kandy, Sri Lanka and was ordained a priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi. He later studied at Oxford University from where he received a Master of Arts degree. He also received a Master of Education degree from the University of Washington, USA.
He became the first Pakistani principal of his alma mater in 1950. The era of Fr. Raymond as principal from 1950 to 1974 is referred by old students as the 'golden era' of St. Patrick's. Fr. Raymond is credited with starting the Cambridge Building (1950), St. Patrick's College (1952), the Teachers' Training College (1969), the first School Auditorium (1972). The school also celebrated its Centenary in 1962 under his stewardship, with the President of Pakistan, Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan as the Chief Guest.[2]
He was described by a long-serving teacher, Yolande Henderson, as “the most charismatic human being” she had ever known.[3]
Father Stephen Raymond died in the UK on January 28, 1999. A memorial meeting was held in Karachi on February 5, 1999. Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed, the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court and alumnus of the school, paid glowing tribute to the late Principal.[4]
St. Patrick's High School was one of the few private educational institutes in Sindh or Punjab provinces that escaped nationalization in 1972 under former Pakistan prime minister Z.A. Bhutto.[5]