John was born in Leigh, Lancashire, in the North of England where he attended the Salesian College of Thornleigh. he joined the Society in 1953 and after a successful academic career in England and Italy, where he had obtained degrees in Philosophy and Theology, he was ordained to the priesthood in the Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians in Turin on the 11th February 1963.

In 1964 he came to South Africa, where he taught in St John Bosco College, Daleside, and, at the same time, lectured in philosophy to the Salesian students in Clonlea. He could always be depended on to arrive for lectures, but rarely at the specified time! He briefly returned to England to perform this same service to the philosophy students in Beckford, while completing a post graduate Certificate in Education.

He went to Swaziland in 1993, where he taught at the Salesian High school for. nine years. Here John developed and expanded the religious instruction programmes for the entire school. With this experience, he moved to Lesotho where, until 2000, he administered the diocesan educational system. here too it became known that if you wanted to see John you waited under the tree - appointment or not! He then spent several years back in Daleside, until finally returning to Swaziland in 2006.

A man of keen mind and equally keen wit, he summed up the oddities of passing life with memorable quotes. In the classrooms of South Africa, in the mountains of Lesotho and in the fervent simple mission churches of Swaziland, John brought his intellectual brilliance to meet the spiritual and intellectual needs of all. His health was not of the best during these last years, but his clarity about life and his knowledge about world events, near and far, stayed with him to the end. He will be remembered for his many quiet acts of kindness and love.

John died in Manzini, Swaziland and is buried in the Salesian plot at St Joseph's Mission.

He was 80 years of age.

Fr Joe, as he was affectionately known by both his family and friends, was born in Hawthorne Road, Bootle, on 1st January 1930. His parents, Thomas and Josephine, were devout Catholics. Joe had two sisters, and a brother who died in childhood. In the letter of recommendation Canon J Morgan, Joe's parish priest, sent to the Salesian Provincial, Fr F Couche, to accompany Joe's application to become a Salesian, he wrote: You need have no kind of hesitation in accepting him, I do assure you ... He comes from excellent stock. His father is the Head Master of my own Primary School and his Grandfather, also a Head Master, was a friend of my father. On his mother's side he has two uncles, priests. I therefore recommend him to you most warmly without any kind of hesitation or reservation.

After completing his secondary education at St Edward's, Liverpool, in summer 1948, Joe began a two year period of National Service in the RAF. During his National Service Joe made his first contact with the Salesians. In a letter in the provincial archives, dated October 1949, Joe wrote: Dear Rev Fr, Could you please let me have some information concerning your order, the types of works it undertakes and any other information you think would be useful to an aspirant to the religious life.

A few months later while he was in an RAF Hospital in Wilmslow recovering from minor surgery on his feet, Joe met his first Salesian, a priest who came from the Shrigley Community and brought him Holy Communion. What this unnamed priest told him confirmed Joe's "hopes and aspirations", his desire to be a Salesian. After completing his novitiate in Burwash, Joe made his first profession in September 1952 and from there moved to Ingersely where he completed two years of philosophical studies. Four years of practical training at Salesian College, Farnborough, were followed by four years of theological studies at Melchet Court. Commenting on Joe's application for priesthood, his Rector, Fr P McQuaid wrote: "Very satisfactory in piety, conduct and studies. Very open and sincere, and amenable to correction. Full of initiative. Preparing well for the priesthood. "

Joe was ordained on 17th March 1962. After a 4 month course of pastoral studies in Dublin, he spent the next 18 months as "teacher and assistant" in Bolton. Between 1964 and 1967 Joe was based at Battersea while studying for his BSc and Diploma in Technology. From 1967 to 1978 Joe taught at the Salesian schools at Cowley, Shrigley and Bootle. In 1978 he joined the Community at Shrigley and with Fr F Preston and the senior aspirants travelled in everyday to the Loreto 6th Form College in Moss Side, Manchester. Teaching in a coeducational environment was initially quite a challenge for Joe, but he made life-long friends among both the staff and students.

Joe was always an enthusiastic and challenging teacher but he was much more than that. He shared his love of the countryside especially his passion for the mountains of the Lake District, Snowdonia and the Highlands of Scotland with many of his students. At times he could be very demanding; things had to be done Joe's way. But those who went walking with Joe knew that they were safe with him and that they would have a good time. Joe also had the great gift of being able bring the best out of his students, helping them achieve their full potential and become the person they were called to become. For example, when he discovered that one of his students at Loreto College could play Bach on her guitar Joe organised for her to attend a concert at the Halle. His kindness and encouragement had a profound effect on her as she wrote in email just before Joe died:

"Part of his legacy is that I am now a head teacher in an area of extreme deprivation and all my children get the opportunity to learn a musical instrument at no cost and they are encouraged to do adventurous things including a residential stay in the Lakes - and I am Just one person that he taught. "

After his 5 years at Loreto College, Joe was ready for a change of ministry. With the experience gained from a couple of years of supply work in the Bolton area, Joe moved to St Dominic's parish, Huyton. He worked there for seven years as a valued member of the Salesian Parish Team. After a sabbatical year part of which he spent in Jerusalem Joe moved to Battersea where he took on the role of chaplain at Salesian College, Battersea between 1993 and 1996.

When Joe officially retired from school and parish work in 1996, he committed himself to teaching English and Maths to teenagers at the Feltham Young Offenders Institute. He cared deeply about them and their future. Joe was also able to devote more of his time to his interest in justice and peace issues: attending meetings, writing letters, lobbying MPs, making his fellow Salesians more aware of the bigger picture. Joe had a particular interest in Africa. He was immensely proud of his sister Anne and the Hospice Africa movement she had started in Uganda. One of the bravest decisions Joe ever made was volunteering in 2001 to spend a year teaching English at the Salesian Study Centre in Nairobi. It gave him a very personal insight into the challenges and problems facing the citizens of the African continent. Back in the UK Joe lived life to the full. First in Battersea and then at St Bosco House, Farnborough, Joe kept himself very busy. Apart from his justice and peace work he maintained his interest in Italian and French and current affairs. He was an enthusiastic member of various groups of ramblers.

In the first half of 2014 Joe's health failed dramatically. He spent several weeks in hospital before being transferred to the hospice in Farnham where he died. As death approached Joe reflected on whether or not he had been a good priest. All things being equal, he thought he had - but perhaps not in a very conventional way. Given his rationalistic outlook and scientific background, Joe reckoned that being a Salesian priest had given him the best possible working hypothesis for living a happy and contented life. He admitted he had always struggled to keep two very different things in harmony: the truths of his Catholic Faith and the demands of reason.

In a letter to the Rector of the Farnborough community dated 19th March 2010 Joe wrote: Choosing to begin living with the Salesians in 1950 proved to be THE most important decision in my life. Everything has flowed on from there. And there has been so much richness and variety of experiences with which my life has been crammed. I have so much to thank God for in my Salesian life. We can never know 'what would have been if ... ' When I have looked back at what through my being a Salesian I have experienced over the years, I cannot imagine any other way of life that could have offered me anything like as much." At end of his life, Joe was at peace and very much looking forward to returning to his Father's house - a life well-lived, a job well-done.

Fr Francis Preston SDB

Born in Kilconnell, Co. Galway on 8 January 1931, youngest of seven, three boys and four girls, Fr Tom died on the 12 April 2014 in James Connolly Memorial Hospital, Blanchardstown.

He became a Salesian in 1950, the Marian Year, and was ordained in Melchet Court, on 3 July 1960.

A well-qualified teacher in Arts and Horticultural Science, Fr Tom won a scholarship in Horticultural Research at Kinsealy. He served as headmaster of Warrenstown College, and later was attached to the Salesian Missions Office, Pallaskenry. He was involved in summer youth camps and did the New Rochelle missions appeal, covering over 13,000 miles. He travelled with the Legion of Mary on four trips to the Soviet Union. He also was involved in parishes in the USA.

Tom prided himself on having visited 23 Shrines on pilgrimage over the years, including the Holy Land, Rome, Fatima, Lourdes, and shrines of Our Lady in the Netherlands, France, England, Italy, Austria and USA.

In the words of former provincial Fr Michael Smyth, Tom was "a good man and a good Salesian."

"Do not fear for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine and I love you." Words taken from the Prophet Isaiah and read at Fr Bernard's Funeral Mass formed the basis of his profound belief that God had created him, called him by name and sustained him through life. It was a faith that was nurtured in his family and home, strengthened in his formative years as a Salesian and sustained him through his community life and mission.

We can trace Bernard's Salesian life and mission through a number of communities and experiences over the years. In 1963 he entered the Salesian Novitiate, was professed in 1964 and then began a three year Philosophy course, followed by three years practical training in Chertsey and Shrigley.

In 1970 Fr Bernard began his theological studies at Upholland College during which time he was based in the Bolton Community. He was ordained to the Priesthood in 1974 after which he moved as a member of staff to Aberdour, Scotland during which time he obtained his Certificate in Social Work.

In 1983 Aberdour closed as a Salesian school and Bernard moved to what became sixteen years of very fruitful and much appreciated Parish ministry in St Dominic's Huyton, St Richard's Bootle and St Benedict's, Easterhouse.

2001 saw Bernard move to the next phase of his life spending ten years at Savio House, Bollington, where he was very happy working with volunteers and contributing to the retreat team by his supportive presence, meticulous planning and amazing creativity. During this time Bernard was also National Delegate for the Salesian Co-operators, VDBs, and the wider Salesian Family. In this role he was able to use effectively his parish experience working with and encouraging adult involvement in the mission of the Church and in particular the Salesian Mission to the young. It was a role he enjoyed and took very seriously attending several conferences at the Salesianum in Rome.

Bernard was proud of his Catholic heritage and his roots in Warrington. As well as his love for the church, all things Salesian and young people, he was an enthusiastic supporter of Rugby League and the blue and yellow of Warrington Wolves. He also took a keen interest in trains, especially the steam variety.

As well as having an interest in Rugby and trains Bernard had certain creative skills. Some years ago he designed his own personal Coat of Arms describing it as something "uniquely personal; an autobiography if you like, that portrays my origins and the person I am."

At the top of the shield are three red roses, the symbol of Lancashire, the county he was born in. Five days before he was ordained a priest the reorganisation of local government moved his birthplace to Cheshire which has as its symbol the wheat-sheaf. At the bottom of the shield are three oak trees representing wood, Bernard being a Salesian of Don Bosco, and Bosco in Italian means "wood." Taken together, the flowers, the crops, the trees, make up parkland, a fitting reference to the name "Parkes." In ecclesiastical heraldry a priest is entitled to surmount his shield with a black clerical hat with one tassel on either side. So this Coat of Arms refers to Fr Bernard, a Salesian priest hailing from that part of Cheshire which was originally Lancashire. Every picture tells a story and this one Bernard delighted in the telling.

During the last months Bernard's health began to deteriorate rapidly, a situation which he bore with gritty determination as he continued to do all that he could to honour commitments, extend support while at the same time coming to terms with his own needs.

Bernard was a faithful priest and towards the end, his great ambition was to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of his priestly ordination. For this celebration held on 29th-30th March 2014; community, family and friends rallied round enabling Bernard, though now frail and in poor health, to give God thanks for those challenging but grace filled years. His celebration cake bore his Coat of Arms and an iced replica of a steam train.

The Salesian Province is deeply grateful for the loving support which Bernard received during his last illness from friends; Salesian volunteers, the Macmillan nurses, his Salesian community at Bootle and the staff at St James and the Sisters and staff at Ince Blundell where God called Bernard back to himself. May the Lord welcome him home with the consoling word of the Prophet, "Do not fear I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine, and I love you."

MAY HE REST IN PEACE.

Fr Bernard Parkes SDB; Born in Warrington Cheshire on September 16th 1946; Made his first Profession as a Salesian in Burwash Sussex in September 8th 1964; Ordained to the Priesthood in 1974. Died on April 8th 2014 Ince Blundell Hall Nursing Home, Liverpool.

The passing of Rev Joe Whittle was greeted with sadness in his native Dunlavin.

Joe Whittle was born in Dunlavin on February 26th, 1920. The first reading of the last Home Rule Bill was introduced on the same day.

His parebnts were Anne and Francis Whittle and he had two sisters, May and Christine, and three brothers, John, James and Francis.

After national school he and some local boys went to Shrigley, a Salesian boarding school in Lancashire, England.

Three of the boys were subsequently ordained in the Salesian Order: Sean Butterfield (Rathsallagh), James Conway (Brewel) and Joe Whittle.

After Shrigley, Joe took his BA in University College Dublin and, after taking Holy Orders in 1950, he spent over 20 years in Pallaskenry, Co Limerick, first as Dean and later as Headmaster.

Past pupils generally found him strict but fair - to quote Goldsmith - 'If severe in taught - the love he botre to learning was at fault.' Joe certainly did not suffer fools gladly.

In the early seventies, he left Pallaskenry for a two-year term as Chaplain in a reform school at Aberdour in Scotland.

Here he perfected a happy facility for getting the best out of wayward boys.

He was given to quoting the Scottish Proverb 'sweep outside your own door and the whole street will be clean.'

On his return to Ireland, Joe was appointed Headmaster at Ballinakill school in Co Laois.

He then spent 12 years as Chaplain at Shanganagh Reform school in Dublin.

His last official post was a curacy in Mountmellick where he spent ten years. He organised the restoration of the famous Iveagh Chapel Cemetery.

Joe retired to his native Dunlavin where he was cared for by his niece Lily Mulcahy and her family, until his death on March 11th 2014.

The Irish seanfhocal, 'briseann an duchas tre shuile an chait' is applicable to Joe. That sense of service to his fellow man was in his DNA.

His immediate forebears founded Dunlavin GAA and his remote ancestor, Canon James Whittle, was PP in Dunlavin from 1862-1884.

Indeed the same applies to this generation.

Joe loved the great outdoors, the greyhounds and sport in general.

He could talk with king and commoner on diverse topics. He could reminisce on the Sallins Tullow Railway line, Tober Castle, Man-O-War, Kit Carroll and Dunlavin GAA, Paddy Lawler and Seamus Deering and Irish Rugby.

Finally, Joe had a great sense of time and place. In 2000, he organised and concelebrated Mass in Dunlavin with Fr Michael Murphy and fellow Dunlavin men, Finbarr Clancy SJ, Frank Laverty CssP, James Conway SDB and Peter O'Toole CssP.

In his retirement he was always willing to help out in the parish.

The Wicklow People - published 07/03/2015

Fr James McGuire was born in the small hamlet of Tobernea in County Limerick on 8th December 1915, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. His father John and his mother Ellen had two sons and two daughters. Jim, as he was always known, was the third youngest. His father was an agricultural labourer and life for him and his young family must have been demanding in the years immediately after the 1st World War and during the struggle for Irish independence.

After seven years at the Eflin National School and a year and a half at the Christian Brothers' Secondary School in Charleville, Jim moved to the Salesian College, Pallaskenry in January 1931 to begin his journey to the Salesian priesthood. Before Jim's entry to the novitiate Fr Denis O'Brien, the parish priest of Eflin, wrote in a short testimonial letter: James McGuire is a native of this parish. He is a young man of excellent character and I have much pleasure in giving him the highest recommendation. Having successfully completed his year of novitiate at Cowley, Jim made his first profession on 8th September 1934. Two years of practical training at Warrenstown and a year on the staff at Shrigley were followed by four years of theological studies at Blaisdon. It was there that Jim was ordained priest on 25th July 1943.

Immediately after his ordination, Jim went to Ballinakill for eighteen months as a teacher and assistant. In January 1945 Jim returned to Pallaskenry as Headmaster, first of the agricultural students and then of the missionary students as well. Fr Aidan Murray who first met Fr Jim in 1946 when he was his Headmaster and teacher of lrish remembers him as a strict disciplinarian but someone who was also very willing to join in the life of the school turning out for the staff team in a hurling match against the boys.

Fr Jim was only in Pallaskenry for a year when he was sent to Malta as Headmaster, a position he held for eight years. On his return from Malta, Jim served as Catechist first at Warrenstown, [1954-58], then at Blaisdon [1958-66], and finally at Cowley [1966-70]. In 1970 he went to Farnborough as Bursar and Vice Rector, but that appointment was cut short in 1972 by the sudden death of Fr John Chadwick who had been Priest in Charge of the Parish at Blaisdon/Newent from 1970.

His new parish ministry in Blaisdon and Newent represented a significant change for Jim. His outgoing and cheerful nature became the hallmark of his apostolic work. He gave himself totally to the work; nothing was too much for him. Many of his former parishioners have commented that he was always willing to put himself out for them. He would try to visit every family in the parish on a regular basis and if people were housebound or sick he would take them Holy Communion every week. His parishioners would often give him a meal and it wasn't uncommon for Jim to fall asleep on the sofa afterwards. He loved this work. He became well known locally for his care for the elderly and housebound and he was admired even by many who were not Catholics.

Jim spent 22 years ministering in Blaisdon and Newent. When the Salesian school at Blaisdon Hall closed he might well have expected to remain in charge of the parish - even though he was by then 79 years old! However, he was asked to retire. This was a very difficult decision for him to accept. It was to his credit that he was eventually able to say, 'Yes'. His farewell to his parishioners at his last Mass in Newent was emotional and very moving.

In making his decision to leave Jim was greatly helped by the generosity of one of the local diocesan clergy, Fr Michael English, who offered him a place in the presbytery of St Peter's, Gloucester and gave him a free hand to work as an assistant priest in the parish. It actually gave Jim a new lease of life. He took on visits to the local general hospital and to the housebound. There was a new spring in his step. This was the work he loved and the people loved him in return.

About six or seven years later Jim began to have some health problems and over the space of about two years he had two operations, several spells in hospital and a spell in Nazareth House, Cheltenham. Now was the time to return to the Farnborough community to recuperate. Jim was there for several months during which time he made great efforts to recover his physical fitness by doing all sorts of exercises in his room. Then one day he said to the Rector: I'm fine now, can I have a job?

Jim found a new role working as the chaplain at Nazareth House, Hammersmith, London. He was already 86 years of age but there he exercised a dynamic ministry among the Sisters, the lay staff and especially among the 90 or so residents. The pastoral well-being of everyone was uppermost in his thoughts. His care of the patients in Nazareth House was legendary. He helped so many of them in their last days and gave them the confidence to meet the good Lord with serenity and trust. A lot of people who knew Jim at this time phoned and emailed after his death to say how much good he had done and how much they admired him.

Eventually Jim did retire from his work at Nazareth House. He returned very happily to the Farnborough community. There he played a vital part in the life of the Community, helping out where he could but especially being an example of fidelity to the Mass, to personal prayer and the sacraments. Jim used the time he had left to deepen his spiritual life. It was always easy to find him during this the autumn of his life: most often he would be in chapel, rejoicing in his friendship with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and Mary, the Immaculate Help of Christians.

Jim was certainly one of God's chosen sons. He had a great devotion to the Holy Spirit. He always wore the symbol of the Spirit on his jacket lapel. At what stage in his life the Spirit made his presence felt in Jim's life is difficult to say, but certainly that same Spirit inspired him to live his Salesian consecration to the full and helped him to bring the Father's love and compassion to all those he met and worked for. May he rest in peace.

Born in 1932, Michael grew up in Cobra, Dublin, the third of six children. He left school at 14 and got a job as an upholsterer. At the age of 23, Michael came to England to become a novice, and made his first vows as a Brother a year later. Based in London, Michael built on his trade as an upholsterer, training as a tailor (going to the London College of Fashion in the Swinging Sixties!). After qualification, he headed south to St Patrick's School in Malta, where he was to spend 20 years teaching tailoring. Here Michael introduced London City & Guilds qualifications and his students became highly qualified professionals. But as well as training, Michael was involved in all sorts - football, athletics, cross-country, life saving and the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

But Michael was hearing another call, and after much reflection he returned to the UK to study for the Priesthood, being ordained in 1981 at the age of 49. When in Malta, Michael had written to the Rector Major expressing his desire to go on the missions. This was realised in 1983 as Michael travelled to Liberia in West Africa. He joined the Salesian Community working in Monrovia. He was to spend 11 years there: a most difficult and dangerous mission. Civil war broke out, and in the midst of it all, Michael and other Salesians worked hard to provide stability and education for the young.

Michael returned to England in 1994 and was appointed parish priest at Bootle, and then six years later at the grand old age of 68, appointed to the parish of St Benedict's, Easterhouse. To Easterhouse Michael brought his unique character and qualities - he was a 'people person', and although he didn't always remember names, he had that special gift of putting you at ease whenever he was around. A lifelong teetotaler, Michael could be the life and soul of any party. But for all his outward "joie de vivre" there was another side to Michael: at times he could be quite down, but never for long. And there was also the quiet times when Michael would sit in the community chapel or oratory praying, the beads of his rosary passing silently through his fingers - the needs of his parishioners in his thoughts and his prayers. In 2010 Michael 'retired' to St Joseph's, Bolton - but he found this difficult and in the summer of 2012 he moved to North Dublin where he became chaplain to the residential and care home run by the Sisters of Nazareth. Sadly his time there was short, and ill health persuaded Michael to return to Bolton.

Michael died peacefully on the 26th December, 2013.

In his homily during Michael's Funeral Mass, Fr Martin Coyle SDB (Provincial) paid this tribute to Michael: "Whether in Malta with the boys, on the streets of Monrovia or Bootle or Glasgow, Michael never shielded himself from the reality of those around him, those he was sent to minister to. Like a good Salesian who is expected to 'make the first move; Michael would talk to anyone: status and position made no impression. He was with them in whatever situation, and through his gifts of laughter and sympathy, openness and humanity, Michael often restored life and hope, and helped people to believe again:'

May he rest in peace.

Fr Thomas Bernard Higgins SDB was born in Sheffield on 21st August 1921 to Thomas and Ellen Higgins. Bernard, or "Barney" as he was affectionately known, grew up in a devout Catholic family.

In June 1938 at the age of 16 years Bernard wrote a letter to the Salesian Provincial stating that he had "thought of entering the priesthood for a long time" and that he had "read the life of St John Bosco" and "heard from various sources about the Salesian order ... and would prefer to belong to a regular order rather than to be a secular priest:'

Bernard was accepted as a candidate for the Salesian Congregation and after a year-long novitiate at Beckford he applied for first vows. Fr Collinson, the Rector of the novitiate community at the time, made the following comment on Bernard's application: "While his intellectual attainments are not of the highest, he has a sterling character, has given every satisfaction and promises very well for the future:' Bernard made his first profession on 31st August 1940. During the years of his initial formation Bernard studied hard, worked hard and played hard. One of his companions described Bernard as a formidable centre half who never let anyone get passed him.

Ordained priest at Blaisdon on 16th July 1950, Bernard spent the next 11 years at Battersea first as teacher and then as teacher and Catechist. In 1961 he returned to Blaisdon as Rector of the community and over the next 13 years he successfully fulfilled the ministry of rector at Farnborough, back at Blaisdon and then at Cowley. Although not a 'forceful character; Salesians over the years appreciated Bernard's "quiet, gentle disposition'; his genuine kindness and gentleness.

Bernard took on the responsibility of Provincial in the years between 1974 and 1980, at a time of considerable change, just a few years after the creation of the separate British and Irish-South African Provinces and in quite unexpected circumstances. As Fr Martin Coyle, the Provincial, commented during his funeral homily: "For a 'quiet man' it was six years of very steady and decisive leadership, and Bernard's 'sound judgement and good intelligence' were placed at the service and benefit of the province:' Some of Bernard's decisions at that time shaped the future of the province: moving the Salesian students to Ushaw College, allowing the senior aspirants to stay at Shrigley and attend the Loreto Sixth Form College in Manchester, opening up the community at Savio House by establishing a mixed lay/religious community there. At the Provincial Chapter held during Bernard's last year as Provincial, those present voted to accept responsibility for the Salesian mission in the West African Republic of Liberia.

In his first Provincial Circular in August 1980, the new Provincial, Fr Cyril Kennedy, wrote: "I must begin this letter, as I know you would all wish me to begin it, with a heart-felt and all-embracing 'Thank you' to Fr Bernard Higgins for all that he has been to us and all that he has done for us as our Provincial. He took up the burden of office under particularly distressing and difficult circumstances and his quiet, unruffled personality and spirit of faith gave us all a renewed confidence and hope for the future. We have all experienced personally his fatherly understanding and help, and the benefits of his prudent foresight will become all the more evident in the years ahead:'

Bernard returned to the Thornleigh community in 1988 and belonged to the community till his death. Again his natural characteristics and gentle presence allowed him to take responsibility for the elderly who were then living in Thornleigh prior to the opening of St Joseph's in Autumn 1998. Bernard also did sterling work collating and updating a province necrology that recorded the details of every deceased confrere in the province. In 2008 his care needs necessitated a move to the Hazelbrook Nursing Home in Horwich where he was wonderfully cared for medically and spiritually - Fr Charles Garrick or Fr Bob Coupe celebrating Mass with him every Sunday.

Commenting on the Beatitudes, the gospel passage chosen for Bernard's funeral Mass, Fr Provincial recalled the blessedness of the meek, the merciful, the peace makers, the poor in spirit and affirmed that Bernard had been similarly blessed and the Province abundantly blessed through him. Fr Pat Egan of the Irish Province wrote of Bernard:
"If ever there was a gentle, kind and polite man, deeply Salesian and lovable, Barney was if' And on receiving the news of Bernard's death, Fr Pascual Chavez, the Rector Major wrote: "I take the opportunity to express my prayerful condolences for the death of our beloved confrere, Fr Bernard Higgins, whom I admired very much for his kindness and gentleness. May the Lord fill him with the Light, Joy, Peace and new Life of His Resurrection!"

May he rest in peace.

Appropriately for one who did so much to help the foreign missions, Fr Tomás Ingoldsby died on Mission Sunday, 20 October 2013, aged 95.

He was born in Dublin's Fairview Strand, 30 April 1918, fourth of six children. At the age of 12, he entered Shrigley as an aspirant in September 1930 and did hos novitiate in Cowley (Oxford) 1934-35 under Fr James Simonetti (who was Novice Master for 54 years!). He made his first profession in Cowley, aged 17, on 7 September 1935 into the hands of the Provincial Fr Eneas Tozzi, who as a boy had known the elderly Don Bosco. Tomás completed his philosophical satudies in Cowley in 1937 and began his practical training in Pallaskenry, during which time his father Patrick died (1938). He made his final profession in 1941.

While World war II rages, Tomás did his first two years of theological studies in Pallaskenry and his final two years in Blaisdon, where he was ordainied a priest on 15 July 1945.

He was appointed to Ballinakill, where for over 50 years he taught Latin and Irish and assisted in the school community. During that time he experienced the 1950 fire that gutted the magnificent Heywood mansion. Though small in stature he was to become a giant of a presence.

In his time there, Vatican II took place and he had the joy of seeing the Irish Province established in 1972. He retired as a teacher in 1984, but remained and contributed to the beginning of the present Heywood Community College. He left in 2004 for Pallaskenry, which became his home for the last 10 years of his life.

But retirement was not part of his vocabulary. He travelled up and down the country doing supply work, leading pilgrimages to all the Marian shrines and the Holy Land, giving talks, running prayer meetings, writing, supporting and promoting the prolife movement and continuing his lifelong commitment to the missions. Pingin dos na misinéirí - a penny for the missionaries - was a constant phrase on his lips.

He spent his last months in the Abbot Close Nursing Home, Askeaton, Co. Limerick, and at his death, he was the oldest Salesian in Ireland.

When Charles died recently in his native Guernsey, he was physically far away from his Salesian community in Farnborough. However, he could hardly have been closer than he was to the spirit and ideals of Don Bosco. At the age of seventy, when most people are enjoying peaceful retirement, he had finally exchanged his extremely busy life as a thorough-going Salesian educator and priest in England only to take up a highly committed pastoral apostolate in Guernsey. This commitment he maintained to the very best of his ability right up to his final illness, along with his unswerving loyalty to the Salesian Province in Great Britain.

Charles was born in 1920 to a French mother and a Guernsey father. He grew up in a large, thoroughly Catholic family. The family language was French. Charles inherited a strong faith which saw the rather shy seventeen-year-old through some difficult times during his two years as a "Son of Mary" in Cowley. He went on to be become a professed Salesian at the end of his novitiate in Beckford in 1939. After philosophy studies, he did four years of practical training between Shrigley and Cowley, during which he also obtained his BA Honours Degree in French. He was ordained a priest in 1951.

There followed the kernel of Charles' educational and priestly apostolate, his solid thirty-five years of indefatigable work in Thornleigh, Bolton. There he earned the appreciation, respect and indeed affection of so many colleagues and innumerable pupils. His meticulously prepared lessons, careful marking and especially his kind and constant encouragement of the weaker students were a perfect example of what Don Bosco practised and preached. He was also a complete community man and a zealous priest in his busy and much appreciated supply work to local parishes. At age sixty-five, Charles could no longer teach in a maintained school. He took a sabbatical year in Berkeley, U.S.A., where he refreshed his Salesian spirituality and post-Vatican II theology. He then generously continued his educational work by moving to Salesian College, Farnborough, where he taught senior French for a further three years.

The Retreat Centre of Les Cotils in St. Peter Port was in need of a resident chaplain, and so Charles, approaching the age of seventy, began yet another round of hard work in God's vineyard. In addition to his duties as chaplain, Charles became a great help to the parishes and Catholic lay organisations of Guernsey. Sadly, the Sisters had to leave Les Cotils, but Charles was allowed to continue his busy pastoral life, first in Notre Dame presbytery and later by taking a flat. He lived and worked from there until declining health forced him to move into Le Platon Home, run by the St. John of God Sisters. Even there he did all he could to be of continuing service until the good Lord finally called him home on August 24th 2013.

May he rest in peace.

Fr Brian Jerstice SDB

Fr ltalo Thomann SDB was a very special person who endeared himself to many people. He was much travelled and worked in many places around the world. He finally retired to St John Bosco House in Farnborough four years ago. He was content and very appreciative of the care he received from the staff in St John Bosco House and at Frimley Park Hospital and his local surgery. Italo had many friends throughout the world, and he loved nothing more than to welcome them and cook one of his delightful pastas for them. The first reading at his funeral was the story of Abraham and the vision of the men who were passing by: "When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and said 'O Lord, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves while I bring a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves ... after that you may pass on' ''. That was Italo's attitude also.

He was born in Cairo, Egypt, to Italian parents in 1929. He made his novitiate in Tantur, Israel, and studied philosophy in Shrigley. He then returned to the Middle East to teach in Beirut and Cairo. Following on from his teaching as a cleric, Italo studied theology in Cremisan, where he was ordained on 29th June 1961. He then taught for six years in Beirut before returning to England in 1968 to teach in Bolton for five years. After a year in Battersea he returned to Bolton for a further year before moving to Bollington as Assistant Bursar. Having spent a year in Montreal doing parish work he moved to the PAS in Rome in 1978 and taught English to the students for nine years. He then spent six years in New York looking after the welfare of the elderly Salesians in a care home. From 1993 to 2000 Fr Italo lived in the Battersea community where he had the title of Assistant Bursar. This for him meant being in the kitchen supervising the cooks and explaining to them how to cook good Italian food! In 2001 he went into retirement in Battersea and in 2009 he moved to St John Bosco House, Farnborough.

Fr Pat Angelucci SDB - a great friend of Fr Italo - wrote: "I will be offering Mass for the repose of his soul. He was always sensitive and quick to do things for others. I remember my years with him, particularly at the Marian Shrine very fondly. Naturally, we all know and joke about his love for good food. He remembered the places he was in the world not by the places he visited, but by the restaurants he had good meals in ... that was Italo! The last time I was in Farnborough I had a long visit with him the night before I left. I think we both knew that we would probably not see each other again this side of eternity. When we said goodbye he said to me, 'I'll see you in heaven - don't worry if you don't write, but just remember to pray for me' ''.

May he rest in peace.

'The glory of God is man fully alive'. Bro Alan was a man who was fully alive and continually gave glory to God. He was a man driven by his confident faith in the goodness of God. In the Apocalypse we read: 'Here is a call for the endurance of the saints ... blessed are the dead who die in the Lord'. One of Alan's great qualities was his endurance: his ability to keep going in spite of opposition, in spite of failure, in spite of any lack of support. He had in spadesful what Fr John Gilheney often spoke about - 'stickability'. He was in his fifties when he took up orienteering and canoeing, and was already a qualified archery instructor. Bro Alan was also a keen cross country runner and rock climber. Pot-holing also became an interest, and eventually he became part of the Forest of Dean Cave Rescue Team.

Bro Alan was born in June, 1917 near Ashford in Kent, into a very happy Catholic family of five boys and five girls. They made their own entertainment, including building a boat in an upstairs room and then having to take out a window to get the boat out! Bro Alan attended the Salesian primary school in Burwash, Sussex, and was professed a Salesian Brother at the age of 19. His brother Anthony was a Salesian priest who spent most of his life in South Africa. His eldest sister, Miriam, became a nun with the Little Sisters of the Assumption. Another brother, Hugh, became a priest in the Augustinian Order but was sadly assassinated on the missions in Africa. This was the second family tragedy because his younger brother, Jim, was killed on active service just after D day in 1944. Apart from a few short breaks, Bro Alan was to live and work in Salesian School, Blaisdon from 1936 to 1994, almost 60 years.

For the first 25 years Bro Alan's place on the Blaisdon staff was listed as farmer and engineer. In class, Alan taught the boys technical drawing with a view to them getting them to turn their drawings into reality in the metalwork shop. Alan's skill stretched from shoeing horses to welding two bicycles together for a Father Christmas wagon, and from ironwork to making gold and silver ornaments. Many a story is told of Bro Alan and the annual camps in Porthcawl. He was also heavily involved in the building of the new church in Newent.

After Blaisdon closed, Bro Alan moved to Farnborough in Hampshire. He was anxious to help wherever he could and acquired a work shop where he was able to repair school furniture. He continued his other hobby of keeping bees and won prizes for his honey cakes. He went for long rides on his bike and a couple of times did the London to Brighton road race. He was then in his mid-eighties. Bro Alan was also the sacristan in our little chapel here in Farnborough, and many a time one could walk past the open door of the chapel and see Alan saying his rosary in the semi-darkness.

Bro Alan's heart was always in the right place and his relationship with God was never in doubt. We are all better people for having known Bro Alan Garman SDB.

Fr Aidan Murray SDB