John Shaw Tribute

L.V. (JOHN) SHAW - R.I.P 13th February 2010

Our father, "John" Shaw, died in hospital on February 13th following a short illness, at the age of 93. He had been diagnosed with cancer of the bile duct - a rare cancer, nothing common for Dad! - and underwent a palliative procedure on Friday from which he seemed to recover, but he suffered a stroke in the early hours of Saturday. We are thankful he did not live on with his mental powers diminished. Instead, he was alert and involved with those around him to the end. A few days before he died, a former fellow patient wrote to him in hospital, apologising for not saying goodbye when he was discharged and thanking Dad for his "rare bundle of positive energy" in the ward.

We chose a service of thanksgiving for Dad's life and while thinking about how the funeral should be, we remembered the many names by which he was known and about the different roles each one of us play in our lives. He was Dad, Father-in-law, Grandad, Great Grandad; son, son-in-law, nephew, uncle, cousin - of course, the list is almost endless. With that in mind, we chose hymns which reflect that idea, including "To the Name that brings salvation", "How sweet the name of Jesus sounds", "Do not be afraid" (sung during the intercessions) and "Tell out my soul".

The readings were from Wisdom 3 and 1 Corinthians 13, the latter because we felt that it summed Dad's character up well.

Dad's Lay Reader's robes were laid out on his usual chair during the service along with a photo of him with his Granddaughter Millie

Members of the congregation as well as family members recalled Dad's life and influence before we shared an Agape meal in the social area at the back of the church, finally leaving for the Committal at Breakspear Crematorium.

The Committal included the hymn "The day Thou gavest" and the passage "Go forth upon thy journey" from "The dream of Gerontius" was read.

We thank the clergy of All Hallows Church, North Greenford, Pamela Heazell, Don Davis and Stephen Collier, for the beautiful service they conducted for Dad and for their support of him in his later years and of ourselves in our loss.

After the 8 o'clock service on Sunday 7th March, Dad's ashes were interred in the Memorial Garden at All Hallows. It was a glorious, though cold, morning and we were joined by a small group of Dad's friends for the short service. Some snowdrops from the garden now mark the spot.

Caroline Shaw and Bridget Perkin

Dad was baptised in the Anglican Church at St Peter Port, Guernsey, and confirmed at St Thomas's, Hanwell. As he grew up, Church-going slipped from his agenda, but after his marriage, my mother re-introduced him to the practice, and the habit stuck! Although Rugby Avenue is in the Parish of St Barnabas, because it is on the border of the two parishes, when they came to live there in 1949 they assumed that All Hallows was the local Church, and Dad remained a dedicated member of the Church, serving with a long list of clergy, right until his last illness, although bad weather forced him to stay at home on occasions. Of course,he was a member of the "Guild of Servers", as he called it, and was also admitted to the Office of Lay Reader in the Anglican Church in 1961, and continued to be "Emeritus", meaning, he said, "retired but allowed to preach occasionally", in his later years. My copy of Peake's Commentary on the Bible, from my student days, was kept at Dad's right hand, and was well-thumbed and filled with his annotations and cuttings from the newspapers.

A fuller picture of my father's life with All Hallows is given by his long-time friend, fellow-server and "partner in crime", John Thordycraft:

It will not be an exaggeration to say that John was a caryatid at All Hallows , a pillar . He performed many tasks with cheerful efficiency . The one that he was pleased to end was “ Hall Letting Secretary ”. This role is equivalent to being “ Northern Ireland Secretary ” in the British Cabinet : you need efficiency to keep track of bookings so that you do not double book - John had plenty of that; diplomacy to deal with awkward situations - John had plenty of that and finally you need to be an insomniac to work late into the night clearing up after clients; I do not know if John suffered from sleeplessness, but as with most secretaries he did not enjoy this role and he was happy when another victim took over .

John was licensed to be a Lay Reader, a role he fulfilled admirably. His erudite sermons explained the meaning of words, phrases and customs so that Bible passages were put into context. The sermons were lightened with humour, very easy to listen to and gave much education . When John reached 70 he would need to be re-licensed every year. The Vicar, Revd. Frank Brand, was delighted to request the re-licensing as John was a valued member of the Ministry Team .

In the governing of the Church , as John was a Lay Reader , he was automatically a PCC member and member of the standing committee. During PCC meetings, John would be sure to brighten the time with jokes and pithy comments. In addition John had a time of being on the Deanery Synod .

John’s biggest contribution to All Hallows was as Sacristan. The way that John became Sacristan was typical of John; over fifty years ago when the Sacristan left, I think it must have been Jack Andrews, no replacement was appointed, so after a couple of weeks John saw the need and he appointed himself. John taught himself the work that was needed. Typically of John he was very thorough and conscientious; many hours on a Saturday were spent polishing, cleaning and laying out whatever was needed for the services. Easter was the busiest time and for over a week before Easter, whole days were spent in preparation. To make sure everything was correct, copious notes were left in the vestry as to what was needed to be done and there were also photographs to show how to layout items and everything was labelled. John had an inventive mind, making gadgets that were used to ease the various tasks. Another speciality of John’s was the use of Plasticine and sticking plaster to repair and hold candles in place! (There is also the story about the exploding "Holy Easter Bonfire".......)

In addition John was a server of various ranks MC, SD, Crucifer, Acolyte, Banner Bearer and Thurifer. For this last duty John had very useful tricks for making the task of cleaning the thurible easier after use.

John’s love of children was evident at the Christmas Fair when he was Father Christmas.

To sum up other aspects of John at All Hallows - John was one of those that made all members of the congregation feel wanted by his quiet presence, he would chat to all and invariably you would know where he was by the characteristic chuckle. Children were given cuddles. At gatherings John would often stand up to give appropriate comments. The Thursday coffee mornings were the better for his stories and jokes. Finally the last contribution of John to All Hallows was his photography; most events in the Church were recorded, these will be a valuable record for the future, also the Easter Rites Ceremonies were tape recorded,

another valuable record.

To finish, All Hallows was the better for John’s devotion and immense contributions. There is a gap that cannot be filled.