Remembering a fine man

Guest Column -

Bay St. George South and the surrounding region were left in a state of shock and sadness on Saturday evening, Sept. 19, when news spread about the passing of one of our finest and best-known residents.

John Pumphrey, while doing some renovations on his home in the Highlands, was injured when a piece of the building fell on him. Thankfully, his brother Michael was with him and was able to get him out to take him to the hospital. Unfortunately, John succumbed to his injuries along the way.

I am grateful and blessed to say that John was a relative and close friend of mine. John was well known for his involvement in many volunteer activities in our community. His intelligence, charm, wit and engaging manner made him the type of person that once you met him, you would not forget him.

John Patrick was born on March 17, 1961 - St. Paddy's Day (hence the second name). He loved to celebrate every event and was quite proud that his birthday fell on that day. He was the youngest of a family of 11, the apple of his Mother's eye and I think I can safely say the favourite to all his siblings.

The evidence of John's impact on the community was witnessed during the days following his death and on Wednesday, Sept. 23, when our church (John's church) in St. Fintans overflowed with people coming to pay their respects to John's family.

John was proud of his many accomplishments in life, he worked for years on salmon enhancement programs and most recently was a paramedic serving our community. This was a career very suitable to John's caring, compassionate nature. Above all though, John was most proud of his daughter Riley.

Many things have been said about John over the past week, remembrances of how he gave so willingly of himself and his time. One of the best things I heard said though was in a eulogy written by John's partner Terri and read by his sister-in-law Rhoda at his wake; she said he belonged to the community, but at the end of the day he belonged to her and Ryley.

John's passing has left a deep void in our community and in the lives of all who knew and loved him, but his happy smiling ways will always be remembered and will live on in our hearts forever.