When a famous figure, a celebrity, dies there
is, quite rightly, a great outpouring of sympathy for his family and lots of
newspaper eulogies. The Internet ensures that folk around the world know within
hours that they have passed away. But
what happens when Mr or Mrs Unfamous dies?
There is a funeral – more frequently
referred to nowadays as a celebration of their life. There may be a notice (paid for) in the local
newspaper. Grief-stricken and harassed
relatives have to phone around friends and colleagues of the deceased – assuming
they know who they were. And twelve
months later only the very closest of their family are likely to recall the anniversary
of their death. The Times won’t publish an Obituary and in a couple of
generations folk researching their family history will wonder who he or she was
and what they were like.
On Saturday I learned of the
death of a former colleague at Knowsley Borough Council, Ken Johnson. He died at the end of February but I wasn’t
aware of it until meeting mutual acquaintances last Saturday. Ken held a very
senior position within the Council but definitely, like most of us, ranked
among the 'unfamous'.
Ken and I swapped Christmas cards
and the occasional Facebook message and he is one of the Council officers I
held in the highest regard. He was
honest, skillful, personable, helpful, caring and did his job to the very best
of his ability, notwithstanding long-term health issues about which he made no
fuss. A man I am proud to have
known. One could hardly ask for a better
eulogy than that.
His first wife, Sue, died when
his son, Matt, was quite young and more recently he became engaged and seemed
blissfully happy. So my sympathies go
especially to Alison and Matt but also to Ken himself that he should have
missed out on a potentially wonderful future and that his name will hardly go
down on record anywhere in a way that will capture what a special person he
was. He may have been 'unfamous' but he
was nevertheless one in a million.
A touching obituary, John, and through your blog it will be read by many people who have never met Ken but will now learn how special he was - almost as if he were a "celebrity".
ReplyDeleteIt seems particularly unfair that he had only married again last year.
Meike, I made an error in the first writing of this - now corrected. He and Alison got engaged last year, not married. A technicality I'm only mentioning here because I didn't want people to think you hadn't read it properly.
DeleteMost of us will only "live" as long as those who actually remember us are around. My condolences for the loss of a fine man.
ReplyDeleteI'm a great believer that the best one can do in life is enhance the lives of those around you and those you serve. Celebrity matters little but there comes the odd occasion when one feels that someone deserves more than this. Perhaps the Victorians had it right when they erected statues to local folk who appear - with our hindsight - to have done nothing 'special'. Just being themselves was special to theirb contemporaries.
Delete"One in a million" friends never really leave us....they remain in our hearts forever...he seemed a very nice man.
ReplyDeleteI worked for Ken at Knowsley and always found him very caring and considerate. I was at his wedding to Sue and also to Matthew's christening. A lovely man, a sad loss. Only just heard of his death
ReplyDeleteSue Loughran 27.07.16