R.I.P Tommy Dillon

All the way through the funeral mass for our esteemed colleague, Tommy Dillon (2nd tenor with 41 years membership), I kept thinking of the fifth verse of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament “The meek shall inherit the earth” It is the third verse of the Sermon on the Mount and the third Beatitude. The phrase “inherit the earth is similar to “theirs is the kingdom of Heaven” also in Matthew 5.3. Of all the people I have met in life I cannot think of many who personify these phrases. Tom was a “good” man. He was never materialistic, always considerate of others, caring and kind. The family tribute written by his daughter Maureen and read by Martin, his nephew, shone out with love and recognition of his unassuming nature and in consequence the high regard and respect with which he was held in the community, his church and naturally our choir. His meek (not weak) nature will surely grant him his place in the Kingdom of Heaven.

What an age! Tom lived to be 101 and choir members recall with fondness going to the home of Maureen and husband John to sing for his 100th birthday. He truly appreciated the gesture and his eyes lit up with pleasure as we sang. The performance of the choir, at this most respectful funeral, was magical, imbued with affection and conviction as we sang Gwahoddiad, Morte Criste and two of Tom’s favourites ; You’ll Never Walk Alone and The Rose. Carefully managed and so appropriate, was the laying of single roses by a procession of mourners, instead of a large memorial wreath, as we sang The Rose. Simply beautiful. We had to smile as the roses were placed next to a jar of marmalade and a small Paddington Bear on the top of the coffin, clearly of importance to Tom.

Tom joined the choir in 1978 and sang with a strong 2nd Tenor voice. He was choir librarian between 1984 and 2002 and appeared in promotional video we published in 2014 – please search on YouTube. He gave diligent service to all the roles in his life, many can remember him as the caretaker at All Saints School, and many can remember his small acts of kindness and fellowship, too numerous to mention.
He was devoted to his wife Doreen who predeceased him by 33 months and his children and grandchildren. Although small in stature, Tom was a giant in character – a good man, sorely missed.