PARWICH.ORG

We have received an appreciation of the late John Booth – former organist at Parwich and Alsop churches – from Reverend Jack Cooper, former vicar of this parish. Thanks to Stuart C for passing it on.

I was sad to be told of the recent death of John. Sadly due to distance and other problems, we are unable to make the funeral.

John was perhaps best known for his help at Parwich playing the organ, but much more so at Alsop. Many of you will remember that during my time as Vicar, John was a constant source of help to me in so many ways, not least his loyalty and reliability.

It is not very well known that John was not taught music, but taught himself. Actually he only played in two keys, which involved the Vicar (me) in sorting out hymns that could be transposed by John into those two keys. He spent hours and months ahead of the services, working out the hymns.

But what John may have lacked in technical ability, he more than made up for with his enthusiasm and his awareness of the “mood” of the worship taking place. He was acutely aware of when the hymn was being particularly enjoyed, with hearty singing. I would look down at him from my vicar’s stall and would see a tiny grin across his face, and a twinkle in his eyes as he returned my look, and he knew full well that I was going to signal that he should carry on with the chorus or last verse again. “Guide me oh” and ” Give me oil” were two such hymns, sung and played with great joy.

However, there were many occasions when John helped behind the scenes, namely with his skill as an “odd job man”. Many was the time he told me to “Leave it to him” when a job needed doing, e.g. fixing the well and truly broken and stuck lock on the main door to St.Peter’s. (That saved the treasurer a small fortune with a specialist locksmith.)

Thank you, John Booth for so many memories, and with much affection to Jeane for looking after you so well.