I watched the tributes to Hamish and found myself nodding madly at some of the comments, laughing out loud - and crying - because he was SUCH an amazing person - I doubt we'll see his like again. I was privileged to be in the same homegroup as Hamish before we moved to another Reading parish in 2007 when my husband was ordained. Because, like Hamish and three other members of the group, I am deaf, the group members kindly allowed me to stay until we moved to Derbyshire in 2015.

I remember that when Hamish first joined the group, almost ‘out of the blue’ we were not quite sure what to make of him, but he very rapidly became a much-loved, almost father-figure, to all of us and he enjoyed our homegroup meals and special occasions as well as the weekly prayer and discussion.  Hamish was unique – so many interests, so many passions, such an encyclopaedic knowledge of so many subjects - a sort of 21st century Renaissance man. He was well-educated and well-spoken, but there wasn’t a vestige of snobbery – intellectual or otherwise – about him. He was a walking encyclopaedia, but genuinely interested in and concerned for everyone he met – a true gentleman. He had a passion to see the principles of His Lord worked out, not just at a personal level – how I live my life – but at a societal level: how well are we as a society caring for those on the margins?  Although he was as passionate about this as he was well-informed, he was always gracious in conversation towards those who didn’t agree with him.

Learned he undoubtedly was, but he did struggle with some modern technology, especially his hearing aids, which, despite his intellect, he never really got the hang of. I remember many occasions on a Wednesday evening at homegroup when those with hearing aids had to switch to the correct channel to hear without background noise, and Hamish never quite managed it alone. I tried to help on numerous occasions, but he really hadn’t any idea about how his hearing aid functioned or what the different switches were for! However he never got impatient and enjoyed as much as he could; it certainly didn’t stop him contributing!

We shall not see his like again – the unforgettable Hamish. You will be missed – but we look forward to meeting again in glory, where there’ll be no need of hearing aids and the music will be beyond our wildest dreams!  Hallelujah!