Rainbow over Derry
Jerry, son of my cousin Jack, and brother of Chris, died of cancer a few years ago. He was active in Derry, working with the Quaker Peace Initiative. I went to his funeral, which was extremely well attended by the Catholics and Protestants who valued Jerry and the Project.
The occasion was a truly Irish affair, with Jerry's huge frame on view in the front room of the family home. Jo, his wife, and children Sophie and Jack welcomed me, although I had not had contact with them for a long time. I had spoken to Jerry on the phone when I visited West Belfast a year or so earlier, before Jerry had known about his illness. He was then back in England with his father helping him to move from Isleworth to Aylesbury to be near to Chris and Margaret.
All the male relatives carried the coffin and Jerry was taken first to the College where a Quaker meeting remembered his life and work. I recounted the occasion when my friend and business partner in Vital Link, John Cockcroft, had phoned me to tell me that Jerry's airline ticket to Belfast had been found at the Euston Road Meeting House. Did I know where he could be found? A call to his Father, Jack found him. No, he had not realised his ticket was missing, and yes, he would be picking it up.
Jerry's book on Peer Group Mediation appeared posthumously. I left a copy with the Holy Land Trust in Bethlehem. This group organised a trip to Palestine/Israel this January (2004) when we found a deserted Bethlehem and a family in the Refugee Camp whose house had been demolished as a reprisal for a bombing incident in Jerusalem earlier the same day. More about that later.
The picture is a scene at Jerry's burial at the cemetery above Derry looking down into the valley. The rainbow appeared just as Chris had read "I am in the wind". It is a symbol of hope for Ireland and for Palestine/Israel.
The following links tell you more about The Quaker Peace Initiative and Jerry's work with information about availability of his book.
http://www.ccruni.gov.uk/research/csc/quaker.htm
http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/emu/visits.htmhttp://www.peacenews.info/issues/2455/2455381.html
Posted by John Tyrrell at October 8, 2004 11:25 PM
Comments
Hi,
I knew Jerry well when he was at college in Bognor Regis when he and I were studying to become teachers. I remember his sense of humour and his irreverent take on events. He was experimenting with Quakerism at the time and I recall many long discussions well into the night about religion, life and all that. he had a major appetite for Marmite and toast, as I recall! Unfortunately our paths diverged professionally and I lost touch for some years aside from a troubled meeting in Londonderry in 1978. However, later, he contacted me before he died and I was going to see him in Londonderry when I heard that he had died.I was unable to attend the funeral for personal reasons but attended his memorial later at the invitation of Jo and was sad to
have lost an old friend.
Blogged by Peter Littlewood at June 8, 2007 6:55 PM
