LAID TO REST

Southland Times, Issue 22297, 12 April 1934, Page 8

LAID TO REST

MR J. C. THOMSON LARGE GATHERING OF MOURNERS MINISTER’S PANEGYRIC In the Riverton cemetery, where lie so many of Southland’s pioneers, Mr John Charles Thomson was laid to rest yesterday afternoon in the presence of a very large and representative gathering of mourners. From far and near men and women had come to pay homage to a distinguished scholar and a beloved friend. Prior to the short service which was held in the house many mourners entered to gaze for the last time on the face they knew so well as it lay in the peacefulness of death. The service was conducted by the Rev. Andrew Macfarlane, M.A., of Riverton, assisted by the Rev. G. F. Mitchell, Isla Bank, and Mr B. C. Galloway, Waianiwa. The coffin was. borne by Messrs F. J. Dyer, F. J. Linscott, W Hoproft, J. G. Johnston, J. H. Smith, G Charlton and Miss H. Hunt, members of the Wallace and Fiord Hospital Board (of which Mr Thomson was chairman), Mr G. O. Cassels, the secretary and Mr H. F. Blatch, representing the Wallace County Council. The members of the Court Star of the South Lodge of the United Order of Foresters (of which Mr Thomson was one of the earliest members) and members of the Riverton Returned Soldiers’ Association formed a guard of honour, and drawn up in line beyond the hearse were the pupils of the Riverton District High School. The cars comprising the cortege extended for approximately a mile .as the body was borne to its last resting place in the cemetery which lies on a bluff overlooking the wide estuary of the Aparima. Among the mourners were the Hon. Adam Hamilton, the Hon. William Stevenson, M.L.C., Mr P. A. de la Perrelle, M.P., the Mayor of Invercargill (Mr John Miller), the chairman and members of the Southland County Council, the chairman and members of the Southland Hospital Board, the chairman and members ,of the Southland Power Board, the chairman and members of the Wallace County Council, the chairman and members of the Southland Education Board, representatives of Aparima Lodge of Freemasons, the Wallace I 0.0. F., the Riverton Borough Council, the Southland School Committees Association, the Southland Branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute, the Southland High Schools Board, the Technical College Board, the Southland Presbytery, and the Otautau Town Board.

At the Graveside.

In accordance with Mr Thomson's wish the Foresters, assisted by the Revs. A. Macfarlane and G. F. Mitchell and Mr Galloway, conducted the service at the graveside. Brethren of Court Star of the South acted as pallbearers from the cemetery gates ana Brother C. W. Patton, P.D.C.R., read portion of the impressive service. Mr Macfarlane pronounced a panegyric on the late Mr Thomson.

“We are gathered here,” he said, "not as remote spectators of a great man’s funeral rites, but we are also those who stand by the death-bed of a friend. This humble-minded man whose earthly career of high achievement has been brought to an end by the mysterious power of the Providence of God, possesses in a unique degree the devotion of a multitude of people, as is demonstrated by this large assemblage of mourners. For long years he has served this community and the State with unselfish zeal, using the talents witli which he was blessed of God for the humble service of his brethren. Endowed with gifts to raise him to worldly advantages he did not isolate himself from the struggle of humanity, but descended to bear with his fellows the burdens of his generation. The lover of literature, science, philosophy and art, he, because duty called him, became the statesman, the administrator, the toil-weary labourer in the fields of public .interest. Heavy and difficult were the labours that he endured during his long and arduous working day, labours that ended only with death.

"Yet, heavy and diversified as were his tasks and cares, the pressure of his public duties did not close his mind to •hose thoughts that are spiritual and eternal. He possessed a firm faith in God and was a sincere lover of the church in which he held the office of deacon. His generosity and love for the church shall be remembered _ for all time through the memorial prizes endowed by him in memory of his late son.

“Our departed brother was convinced that he himself and his brethren were destined for an immortal fellowship with their Creator, and thus the pursuit of beauty, truth and goodness was for him the objective both of private and corporate life. In such a conception of the universe and of man, self-interest could find no place. The nobility of his unselfish life and acts of love have built for him a memorial which fadeth not away. His earthly life is over, his work accomplished and the long day done. He has finished his course, he has kept the faith. Elsewhere and beyond these voices, he has entered upon a more perfect life where opportunities of service still abound. Of him we may say with Shakespeare: ‘How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! in form and moving, how express and admirable.’ But more let us say with Him who is the Prince of Life: ‘Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God’.”

Floral Tributes,

Wreaths were sent by the following: The Wallace Hospital Board, the Southland Education Board, the Southland Branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute, the Riverton Methodist Gardening Club, the Hon. J. A. Hanan and Mrs Hanan and family, the Hon. W. Stevenson, the Hon. Adam Hamilton, the Riverton Returned Soldiers’ Association, the staff of the Riverton District High School, the pupils of the Riverton District High School, Dr and Mrs Bridgman, Miss Gedney, matron of the Wallace Hospital, nursing staff of Wallace Hospital, Maternity Hospital staff, Mr and Mrs F. A. Thomson, Sydney, Dr Edgar Thomson. Sydney, Mrs Ferguson and family, Invercargill, Mrs Price and Miss Price, Mr and Mrs J. Fleck, Mr Tracy King and family, Misses Robertson, “Struan,” Mr and Mrs T. Bulman, Mr and Mrs S. Watson. Misses Shaw, Mrs de Clifford, Mrs Calder, Mr and Mrs Horsham and family, Mrs Spencer, Mr and Mrs W. Spencer, Mrs Gilchrist, Mr and Mrs W. Scobie, Mr and Mrs S. Bell, Mr and Mrs H. E. Philp, Mrs J. Cassels, Miss Curtis, Mr and Mrs J. Forsyth, Mr and Mrs T. L. Gilson, Mr and Mrs Saunders and family, the Dunedin Chief Post Office staff, Mrs Pemberton and Master T. Pemberton.