I was privileged to know Philip Jackson for the last ten years and attended his funeral in February 2003. Philip was a Reader at Sutton on Sea Parish Church. Attached is his obituary written by his Parish Priest, Rev. Leslie Aitkin
Eric Damms
In The April edition of the church magazine, we printed an obituary of the life of Mr.Philip Jackson our former churchwarden and layreader who died in mid-February Unfortunately, due to a copying error not all editions of the magazine contained the obituary. So. in order to correct that unfortunate omission, we re-printed the obituary in this June edition.
MR. PHILIP JACKSON (In Memoriam)
The funeral service of
Mr Philip Jackson took place on Wednesday.
February 26th at St Clement’s
Church with a very large congregation
Present. People came from
far and wide in Lincolnshire and even well beyond. The Rector paid tribute
to Philip’s many qualities as a christian. Mention was made of Philip’s
care for children and young people and his time over thirty years expenence
as a schoolmaster at Bentham School, situated on the border of Lancashire
and Cumbria. Since retirement he had been a Bishops Visitor for schools
as well, in the Diocese of Lincoln.
For the past eight years
Philip had been a diligent and hard-working layreader, preaching regularly
on a Sunday here at St.Clement s but aIso eIsewhere jn the area, He was
for a time Secretary of the Area of Layreaders, helpng to administer the
work and ministry of layreaders. He was too, a magnificent Churchwarden
at St. Clement’s over fifteen years displaying the utmost dedication to
that task - looking after Church fabric, copying this magazine, compiling
sidesmen and reader’s rosters, as well as being a kind and sympathetic
friend of many both in the Church and outside it. He was simply a very
good man and a devoted christian layman whose presence will be missed,
since his contribution to the Church was so dedicated and sacrificial.
After a long battle with cancer since the autumn, a battle which Philip faced with typical courage and faith in God, his soul is now at peace with the God he always loved. We can only do our best to follow his good and kindly christian actions and continue the work that he helped to sustain as a servant of St.Clement’s Church and that is surely what he would always want us to do.
Leslie Aitken (Rector)
Not mentioned but Eric and Tim Ellis, also CGS, attended the service and afterward, in memory of past times, sang the School Song.
Omnes amici.