I felt very privileged to be invited to attend the funeral service of our good friend Francis, one of only three people outside the family to be so favoured. Following his second retirement, Francis and his wife Jill came to live in Devizes, and during two periods when we were without a rector, Francis helped in our churches at Calstone and Heddington, conducting many services, he and Jill were always popular visitors.
Following Francis’s retirement from parish ministry, he accepted a post as Chaplain to Anglican communities in Finland and Estonia. Always great travellers, Francis and Jill visited all the communist countries of Europe except Albania and made many friends.
Drinking tea and enjoying a slice of Jill’s cake and good company on a sunny July afternoon in Francis’s flower filled garden, while helping to raise money to support the school in Uganda, which was so important to Francis and Jill. Donations made at the service in memory of Francis will be sent to help the school, so if you would like to make a donation I will make sure the money goes to the trust via Jill. During the many years of his ministry and since, Francis must have sown more seeds than most people seeds of the flowers which gave such colour to his garden and the seeds of the Christian Faith in many people. So we give thanks for a generous life well lived.
Derick Eadon.