A LARGE CORTEGE

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 60, Issue 4233, 19 January 1940, Page 4

A LARGE CORTEGE

FUNERAL QF LATE MR J. T. NORTH VICAR’S TRIBUTE. One of the largest funerals in Te Awamutu for a long time was that of the late Mr J. T. North, an esteemed townsman, who was laid to rest in Te Awamutu cemetery last Wednesday afternoon. Prior to the funeral a short and very impressive sex-vice was held at St. John’s Church, the vicar of Te Awamutu, Rev. M. G. Sullivan, conducting the service. The church was filled to'capacity. 'Mi- Sullivan said that it was not his custom at funeral services to say anything other than the words of the Church of' England service fox- the dead, but he would break that practice for two reasons—-first, because he to whose memory and in whose honoux- the service was dedicated had been associated with the ehurch and parish fox- the greatex- portion of his lifetime; and, second, because for the whole of it he had been identified with this town and district in a worthy manner. As choir member, sometime choir master, vestryman, and people’s warden he had rendered no mean contribution to the parish. In the widex- sphere outside, for organisations and societies, sporting and otherwise, he had readily given of his time. Continuing, Mr Sullivan said: “This large assembly is, I take it, an indication of the esteem in which Ml- North was held. That a man, vigorous and active, should be cut down in the prime of life is a high mystery which does not admit of easy solution. We can but accept the fact with resignation. For those of us who believe in the Resurrection of the Dead this cajxnot be the end. Wle have a greater consolation, too, in the knowledge that by his earthly pilgrimage oux- Saviour shed a light over the dark places and has helped to show us the way. Wb are further heartened by the belief that His companionship is daily ours. With these thoughts we commit this body to the dust from which it sprang, but the immortal ■- spirit we: commend to God who gave it. To his widow and his son and daughter, to whom he was a good husband and a good father, we offer our deepest sympathy/’ This oration and eulogy was listened to with marked appreciation by the congregation, and then Bro. T. Wi, Thompson, Waikato Past District Grandmaster of the Oddfellows’ fraternity, read portion of the Lodge’s ritual for burials. At the graveside the service was brief. 'lntimate friends of deceased were the pall-bearers, representative of the institutions Mr North had been closely associated with. A large number of beautiful floral emblems were laid at the graveside, indicative of the respeft and esteem in which deceased was held. The Oddfellows’ Lodge and the Bowling Club were both very strongly represented numerically at the graveside.