Attenborough's father was the principal of
University College, Leicester, now the city's university. This resulted in a long association with the university, with Attenborough becoming a patron. The university's Embrace Arts at the RA centre, which opened in 1997 is named in his honour. He had two younger brothers: naturalist and broadcaster
David and
motor trade executive
John. Attenborough married actress
Sheila Sim in
Kensington on 22 January 1945. From 1949 until October 2012, they lived in Old Friars on
Richmond Green in London. In the 1940s, he was asked to 'improve his physical condition' for his role as Pinkie in
Brighton Rock. He trained with
Chelsea Football Club for a fortnight, subsequently becoming good friends with those at the club. He went on to become a director during the 1970s, helping to prevent the club losing its
home ground by holding onto his club shares and donating them, worth over £950,000, to Chelsea. In 2008, Attenborough was appointed
Life President of Chelsea Football Club. On 26 December 2004, the couple's elder daughter,
Jane Holland (born 30 September 1955), along with her mother-in-law, Audrey Holland, and Attenborough's 15-year-old granddaughter, Lucy, were killed when a tsunami caused by the
Indian Ocean earthquake struck
Khao Lak, Thailand, where they were on holiday. A service was held on 8 March 2005 and Attenborough read a lesson at the national memorial service on 11 May 2005. His grandson, who survived the tsunami uninjured, and granddaughter, who suffered severe leg injuries, also read in the service. He publicly endorsed the
Labour Party in the
2005 general election, despite his opposition to the
Iraq War. Attenborough collected
Picasso ceramics from the 1950s. More than 100 items went on display at the
New Walk Museum and Art Gallery in Leicester in 2007, in an exhibition dedicated to family members lost in the tsunami. In 2008, he published an informal autobiography entitled
Entirely Up to You, Darling in association with his colleague Diana Hawkins.
Health and death , their daughter
Jane Holland and their granddaughter, Lucy, at
St Mary Magdalene, Richmond In August 2008, Attenborough entered hospital with heart problems and was fitted with a
pacemaker. In December 2008, he suffered a fall at his home after a stroke In January 2011, he sold his
Rhubodach estate on the Scottish
Isle of Bute for £1.48 million. In May 2011, David Attenborough said his brother had required a wheelchair since his stroke in 2008, In June 2012, shortly before her 90th birthday,
Sheila Sim entered the professional actors' retirement home
Denville Hall, in
Northwood, London, for which she and Attenborough had helped raise funds. In October 2012, it was announced that Attenborough was putting the family home, Old Friars, with its attached offices, Beaver Lodge, which came complete with a sound-proofed cinema in the garden, on the market for £11.5 million. His brother David stated: "He and his wife both loved the house, but they now need full-time care. It simply isn't practical to keep the house on any more." In December 2012, in light of his deteriorating health, Attenborough moved into the same nursing home in London to be with his wife, as confirmed by their son Michael. Attenborough died at Denville Hall, on 24 August 2014, five days before his 91st birthday. He requested that his ashes be interred in a vault at
St Mary Magdalene church in
Richmond beside those of his daughter, Jane, and his granddaughter, Lucy, both of whom had died in the
2004 Boxing Day tsunami. He was survived by Sheila, his wife of 69 years, their oldest and youngest children, six grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and his younger brother
David. Sheila died on 19 January 2016. ==Honours==