Fr. Wilfrid was born and bred in Yorkshire. He joined Unilever in his early 20’s as a Sales Representative for the Yorkshire area and when war was declared he volunteered for the RAF and was sent to an experimental station which eventually became RADAR.

He was soon posted abroad to the borders of Burma and was later put in charge of a RADAR station. Following a posting 5000ft up in the Himalayas on a commission course he was promoted to Flying Officer. Sadly he suffered several life threatening diseases and spent seven months in hospital and by the time the war was over he was invalided home weighing just 5 ½ stones.

After many years of ill health God called him again – this time very clearly and Wilfrid went to work with his Parish Priest and became a Reader in the Ripon Diocese where he had a long and happy friendship with the Vicar.

He returned to work for Unilever and as his health improved he became Sales Manager for the Midlands and a year later he took over the London area South East England and the Channel Islands. A move to Surrey followed and he became a Reader in the Southwark Diocese.

After 31 years in business God’s call came again and this time it was not to be ignored and he went to Rochester Theological College to study. Wilfrid was ordained in Southwark Cathedral by The Right Reverend Mervyn Stockwood and spent 2 ½ years as curate at St Peter’s Woodmansterne and then moved to Peaslake Nr Guildford to be Priest in Charge. His first incumbency was at Kelly, Bradstone and Lifton in the Exeter Diocese and while there, on behalf of the Bishop, he was asked by Mrs Margaret Bendyshe (who owned a large estate covering many parishes) to be Incumbent of Exbourne and Jacobstowe – a lovely part of North Devon.

A few years later the Bishop was having to reduce the number of clergy in the Diocese and he wrote to all Incumbents of 65 and over to ask if they would consider early retirement.

After much thought and many happy years in the parish Fr. Wilfrid and Irene moved to Sussex where he provided much needed help in the Deanery until ill health made it impossible.

Fr. Wilfrid married Irene in 1937 and have a son and a daughter.

Fr. Wilfrid passed away on Saturday 18th October 2003 at St. Wilfrid's Hospice, Chichester

Some six years ago Father Wilfrid asked if, in the event of his death, I would speak about his life and ministry. I feel privileged to do so, for a friend and a very fine priest. But first let us offer our condolences to Renee, Terence, Barbara, Katherine, granddaughters Elizabeth and Julie, not forgetting great granddaughter Hannah. Both Terence and Katherine, living much nearer, have been a tremendous support to Renee. Barbara being much further away also gave splendid support so far as it was possible. 

Father Wilfrid and Renee were married for sixty six years. Some achievement, especially these days with current trends.

So let us give thanks to God for his very long life. He was a loving, greatly loved husband, father, grandfather and friend. But we also thank God for his witness and ministry as a priest, serving God his Father and God's loved ones.

A little story he enjoyed telling was during the time he was at A.C.A.M, the selection conference for potential clergy. Father Wilfrid suffered from kidney stones, a very painful condition. After a number of interviews that prospective clergy undergo he went for a walk. Suddenly he had an attack. so painful that he ended up rolling on the pavement, right outside a pub. Naturally enough passers by all jumped to a totally wrong and unfair conclusion! He was taken by ambulance to hospital and spent the night there. The next day the interviewers asked if he wanted to go ahead and Father Wilfrid was quite indignant. He said "Of course I do, I have waited too long to miss out now". So the church gained a very valuable and much loved priest.

Father Wilfrid was employed by Unilever before the war. At the start he enlisted in the Royal Air Force eventually serving on radar in India and Burma. It was in the Far East that he contracted several tropical diseases which resulted in him being invalided out. The effects of these illnesses caused considerable problems on his return to England, but he said "In spite of the difficulties I was convinced that God had work for me to do".

He rejoined Unilever  and was area sales manager for Yorkshire, followed my the Midlands and finally in the South including the Channel Islands; such was Wilfrid and Renee's affection for the South that they retired to the area.

It is fitting that we gather around the Altar today to give thanks for Wilfrid's life and commend him to God's merciful love. We are reminded each time we come to the altar to be fed on the body and blood of Christ, of the full extent of God's love for us. God so loved the world that he gave his only son that all who believed in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Wilfrid knew that love of God and lived it in his life and ministry. He lived it by being an example of that love showing it in the way he reacted to and treated all those that he encountered. He did so even in his dying, witnessing to the steadfast and unshakeable love of God in the dignity with which he faced the end and the way in which he made it that bit easier for all of us who are going to miss him so much.

We heard in our gospel reading the Beatitudes from the gospel according to S. Matthew. To be a follower of Christ brings with it some tough demands. A knowledge of ones own need of God, eyes open to the suffering of others, a hunger for righteousness and peace. And also a willingness to seek these things, and rejoice, even when we are suffering ourselves.

The way of Christ is the way of the Cross, a share in Christ's passion that we might come to share his glory. "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven " Says the Lord. We are comforted by that hope of eternal life in the nearer presence of God, the reward of heaven, and that helps us to bear up under the demands and pressures of this life. But do we always manage to rejoice and be glad? For the short time I have known Fr Wilfrid I can honestly say that he was someone who I always found to be glad and rejoicing. He always had a smile or a joke to share, always a word of encouragement to offer or praise to give not only when things were going well, but even when he was anxious or in pain, even in his dying. Not long before he went into the hospice Fr Wilfrid shared with me a little verse that had particularly tickled him. He had trouble reading it out because he was laughing so much. It is very short but I wanted to share it with you as he shared it with me. "The work is hard, the pay is small, so take your time and sod em all"

I told Renee I was going to use that today just for the excuse to say Sod in Church. I hope Fr Wilfrid would have approved in fact I think I can hear him laughing somewhere still.

But I had another reason for wanting to share that with you. You see to me, it was just another example of and witness to the faith that sustained Fr Wilfrid throughout his life. Not some false piety or solemnity, not a faith that ties us down to sets of rules and regulations, not a faith whose reward is only in the future, but one that rejoices and is glad here and now, knowing that all we need do, whatever the circumstances is keep our eyes on Jesus and all will be well. As the prophet Isaiah puts it "the Lord is the one in whom we hoped. We exult and we rejoice because he has saved us. " Pain and suffering are transient, sin and death are defeated so sod em all! Instead rejoice and be glad. Rejoice and be glad at the example of love we have been privileged to share in knowing Fr Wilfrid. Rejoice and be glad for the dignity with which he faced his own death surrounded by all those who loved him. Rejoice and be glad for a faithful servant of God who also rejoiced and was glad, knowing God's love for him and trusting in his faithfulness. Rejoice and be glad even when we feel like weeping, even when we feel the pain of grief and loss tearing at our hearts.

I know that for Renee one of the things that has helped her cope in these difficult days is remembering the joy she and Wilfrid shared. Dwelling on the marvellous opportunities that God had given to both of them in their life together. Rejoicing and being glad even in this time of grief. And I know that that is the way that Jesus meant it to be.

We commend Wilfrid as he journeys to face the Lord he served, a journey we will each have to make when our own time comes, and I can almost hear the Lord ask him as he stands there "How did you follow me?" And Wilfrid will reply not with a list of the parishes he served or the many great things he accomplished in his life but by simply saying perhaps with a little chuckle "I rejoiced and was glad" and that I believe will be more than good enough for Jesus.

28th October, 2003