Deacon Peter Lavery

13/10/1950 – 27/09/2024

A tribute to Deacon Peter by Tom Quigley

A lot has been said and written since his recent and untimely death.

Tributes have praised his commitment and his passionate faith and dedicated service to God and his people.

I'd like to offer my own short tribute to Peter on behalf of the CPC of which Peter attended and participated in for many years. You can count on one hand the number of times that Peter missed meetings of the CPC in all the time that I have been involved. Indeed, it was Peter who first encouraged me to join the CPC and later proposed me as Chairperson.

I have known Peter for many years. His son Michael was in my daughter's class at school and his daughter Rachel was in my son's class. My wife, Jackie and I knew Pauline and Peter very well. Peter loved everything about St Joseph's Parish Birtley, the church, the schools, and parish community. Once he had retired from his work as a surveyor, Peter launched himself full time into parish affairs both as a lay person and later an ordained Deacon. His commitment was total. Peter would do everything from joinery, to gardening to painting and decorating. In recent years I saw him with a circular mitre saw and bench cutting skirting for the church porch. Others witnessed him on top of scaffolding cleaning off crumbling plaster from the arches in the church isles and painting the walls. It wasn't just standing on the altar and performing his duties as a Deacon, important as that was to him, that drove Peter, he did a lot of things that parishioners were not aware of too. He visited people in their new homes to bless them and comforted the sick and bereaved families across the Benedict Partnership. Peter joined the school governing bodies of both Birtley schools and St Benet's in Ouston. Peter loved children and young people. He was always there for them, with celebrations in schools and church, kind and gentle as always in giving his time, advice and guidance.

Peter and I got on really well from the beginning. I would play five a side football with him, his brothers, Kevin and Joe Haigh, David Tweedy Mick Gallagher his son John and my son in the Louisa Centre, Stanley, every Sunday afternoon. Peter was as gentle as ever on the five a side pitch although I can't always say that about his brothers!

For years, Peter provided me with his copy of "The Tablet" every week coming to my door with a smile on his face and sometimes a bundle of back copies. We would frequently have conversations about Church teachings, practice and philosophy and current affairs. He also gave me back copies of” The Surveyor". Outside of church affairs Peter and I shared many interests: old maps, architectural drawings and historic buildings and artefacts. I recall meeting him in the presbytery once and he approached me smiling and cheerful; "you must come and see what I've found Tom" he said, unrolling an old map with parish boundaries. We looked at it for a while pointing out places of interest and notable changes in the landscape since its publication date.

Overwhelmingly though Peter was first and foremost a family man. He drew real strength from his family and we all know how committed to marriage he was from the work he did in the wider Diocese. Peter said to me on several occasions that he felt very blessed. He said "...you know Tom I wouldn't be able to do half as much as I do without Pauline's support and help". She means everything to me. And it is Pauline and Peter's family that we must remember and pray for as well as Peter at this time.

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace, Amen

Tom Quigley
Chairperson
St Joseph’s Church Pastoral Council