Centred & Focussed on God (God of our Fathers) 

25/06/2022

Continuing our guest blog series: The God of Your Fathers, we're delighted to share something of Gordon's story from his daughter Anne:



When clearing Dad’s bungalow I found the book I’d given him in which you write how you felt about things & people in your life. It was blank, despite him writing several factual books. Typical! Dad was central to his loving family & never short of something to say to inform, advise, encourage, enquire. He was intelligent & knowledgeable, with many gifts, which he shared freely, as he did his faith but rarely expressed emotion.

His life started in a Christian home, with one older brother. They attended the Brethren assembly services & Sunday School, where he was grounded in Bible teaching. At 10yrs he learned to play piano & at 11 played at meetings & a childrens’ mission. This service for God continued till a few months before he died (aged 93). He played piano accordion at his Crusaders class & Camps for teenagers, which he co-led; piano in Sunday School, to accompany me when singing solos; and piano or various types of organ in various churches in Dorset, Ruislip & Cardiff. He also conducted the Bournemouth Male Voice choir & took small groups to sing in prison. He encouraged both girls to learn piano with the eldest going on to teach piano. He accompanied her when as a Primary teacher / Head she organised & led musicals & concerts; & the whole family in our private concert parties.

Dad attended Grammar school & was able to complete his schooling & gain several cups & medals for sprinting, prior to being called up – joining the Royal Corps of Signals – Dorset Regiment. He was given engineering training & was sent to Northern Ireland; & to Singapore where his group were intercepting & decoding or sending back messages from the Japanese. He only talked of his role in Payroll & how he carried his ammunition in his pocket, not in his gun when carrying money. He did not want to kill for the sake of money. War experiences did leave their mark as I discovered when as a child, I developed a friendship with a Japanese girl. The friendship was permitted but Dad would not take or collect me from her home, unusually sending Mum instead.
Dad’s mother died when he was 19. She had been bedridden for about a year. He never talked about her but Mum spoke very fondly of her. Living opposite, Mum often sat with her while they embroidered or his mother drew or painted (one of dad’s pleasures too).  



After the war Dad trained as an accountant & entered a partnership in Bournemouth. His strong principles were challenged but his contract prevented him setting up in a practice within a certain distance, so when I was 7, he took the hard decision to move to London to join the civil service, travelling weekly, leaving mum, who had health problems to care for us alone, with no phone or driving licence.  I think he continued lay preaching & holding a boy covenanters class on Sundays. For a year he lived in the Fulham YMCA in the week, starting almost a lifetime of service on the committee with responsibility for accounts. He also supported several young men who he had taught &/or shared in their learning about God, in prayer & correspondence throughout his / their lives.

We finally moved to Ruislip where he lived for 46yrs until all the family had moved away. Due to lack of children in the Brethren, we had settled in the Baptist to ensure we girls would continue our Christian learning & development of faith. During that period he taught a boys Sunday School class, was a Deacon, Church Treasurer & played piano or organ for 4 churches. His refusal to break copyright laws when singing using overheads instead of hymn books, led him to move to the Methodists until he moved to Whitchurch in 2006. Many of you know him from his final years & his contribution in Bethel meetings & small group.  He greatly appreciated new friendship, spiritual stimulation & being close to part of the family, developing relationships with the next generation.

While Dad’s faith was central to his life, he also found time for nature – he loved his garden, recognised many birds by sight or song, enjoyed holidays in the UK, walking & climbing (famous for long short cuts & finding marshland on mountains), adored his grandchildren & great grandchildren, prayed & read daily from his extensive library, sketched, painted pictures, took photos, enjoyed researching, corresponding & writing, & music – listening, playing, attending concerts & supporting family while they performed. He worked tirelessly on legal or financial issues for which he felt passionately, to benefit others.



Dad never complained of the restrictions experienced due to Mum’s health or disability or of his own episodes of cancer. He is greatly missed. I picture him snoozing on my sofa on Sunday afternoons with the family dog sprawled across him. I will be forever grateful for a father who loved us, gave so much to us, toiled endlessly to help us fight for our rights; & taught us to live our lives to the full, centred & focussed on God. Whenever I became better than him at any skill, he stopped competing or teaching me. It is significant that he explained a passage I read to him from the Bible in his final day. I still have a long way to go!



Anne Downs