Tribute to Tommy
I was asked to speak at Tommy's funeral at his request, to outline his involvement in our school. It was a moving and celebratory service and I know that he would have been happy with everyone's kind words. Staff would like to say thank you too for your kind words and understanding. He was a huge part of school but we are confident and determined to continue to work hard and balance tradition with the future our children will be navigating. We are looking forward to doing well what we do hereafter.
Celebration of Life 3 5 23
When celebrating the life of Tommy, it is right that we spend some time outlining his involvement with Bretherton Endowed as he was a huge part of our school. I would like to start with his involvement in his own words. He asked that I share with you that he was our school manager for 38 years and a Chair of Governors for 22. However, Tommy’s involvement in Bretherton Endowed, permeated far wider than that- in that there wasn’t one part of school life that Tommy’s contribution didn’t reach. Throughout those years, a huge number of staff have been colleagues and friends and hundreds of children and their families have got to know him. And so many staff and families past and present were proud to call him a friend.
Tommy had an amazing memory and knew Bretherton Endowed inside and out. This was a source of support and enabled him to give advice to the leaders and staff in school. When he worked in the office, his organisation and attention to detail was noted. Organising registers, ordering dinners, answering the phone and he knew all the procedures well. He was an asset to school. He took on every role and through the office, he was connected to our families and children. He was held in such high regard. He volunteered in the office even when he had retired, so we bought him a polo shirt with our school logo to match the staff. He was so pleased and wore it with pride when he was in. He took every job seriously, even ‘strimming’ paper ( which was actually shredding but we never wanted to correct him). He was spoilt by our school cooks with a flurry of cakes or biscuits being sent to the office when he was in. He’d reply ‘ Oh I shouldn’t …… but maybe I could have one now and take the other ones home’. He had a great sense of humour and although he was professional in his roles, he was always happy to laugh along.
Tommy was inspirational, in the way that he embraced the ever changing climate of education. Nothing seemed to phase him, and there was no better example of this than accessing zoom meetings in lockdown. Although he’d remind me all the time that he’d ring me because he doesn’t do texts, throughout this challenging time in school, he took time to enquire weekly about staff, pupils and families in our weekly phone calls. One positive thing National Lockdown left us was videos of Tommy recording prayers for our pre- recorded worships – we are blessed to have them and it will be a comfort to us to hear his voice continue within the walls of our school.
I met him as Chair of Governors and he guided me, along with many heads before me through headship. What he didn’t know about school, wasn’t worth knowing and he was happy to spend time with us and share it. He was prepared to make tough decisions and steered school through some challenging times. Overseeing building work and many changes in staff. He would think nothing of representing school in local authority appeal meetings for school places and I always found Tommy to be a good judge of character and was very astute. In our admissions committee, his knowledge of Bretherton was invaluable – knowing all of the parish and often many of the families.
His special prayer at the start of governor meetings guided us in our mission and I can count on one hand, the number of meetings he couldn’t attend. He kept detail records of governor terms, chaired committee and always kept our clerks on their toes.
He was no stranger to accolades as he was presented with the Community Education Award of the North West, Unsung Hero Award at the Charter Theatre for his work in school where he was shortlisted out of 427 entries. I wrote then, ‘Tommy encapsulates our Christian ethos, and we cannot imagine school without him. His legacy lives on in our sporting commitment to cricket and his involvement in leading our great school as Chair of Governor.’ In 2021 he was awarded a lifetime achievement award from Lancashire County Council for his commitment to Governance. As a result, I spoke to him about naming a Year 6 award after him and whether he would like to present it. There was no question in his mind that it would be presented to a year 6 pupil for their contribution to school sport. He enjoyed picking out the trophy and knew exactly what is should say.
He often talked of how proud he was of having the Wilson Suite named after him and had the biggest smile when showing parents around that part of school, sharing his history with them.
The children in school loved him. We knew when he was in the building as we’d hear ‘Hey Tommy, how are you?’ from a year 6. They were always excited to talk to him, read with him, get his chair ready for worship and play cricket with him. Testament to this was the way that through lockdown on the daily allowable walks, children past and present would walk past his house to give him a wave and he said it made his day. In fact, he has been part of our history curriculum for many years with children in class 2 interviewing him on what life was like locally when he was a boy. Children would listen attentively as he recounted his days in the shop and what school was like back then. He attended residentials and school trips, and I heard stories of him screaming on the Big Swing at Robinwood. Every year, he’d write a letter to Year 6 to encourage them to do their best before SAT’s and at the end of the year, he prepared carefully his speech for the leaver’s assembly, taking time to comment on their hard work and sporting success. They knew him well by the end of year 6 and I know his words meant so much.
We have already heard of his love of cricket and he was a fabulous role model for children on how when you have a passion and work hard, you can achieve great things in the sport you love. His cricket legacy in school was measurable by the trophies in our cabinet and we will ensure that it continues. Coming in weekly to coach the team at lunchtimes or after school and attending all the cricket events at the weekend, scoring with Mrs Vincent at many events over the years. One memory shared was of Tommy accompanying a new staff member and our cricket team at Albany High school where he attempted to teach them how to score the match- with endless patience. He was a talent spotter and children always wanted to impress and improve their game for him. His praise was genuine and his coaching was purposeful. Latterly, he coached our indoor bowling team, and attended on school’s behalf.
We have fond memories of celebrating his 80th birthday in school when Tommy and Barbara and family were the guests of honour. It was an opportunity to show him how special he was to our school family. This prompted the LEP to write an article and he was so surprised and thrilled when the reporter knew who he was and knew of his book.
But Tommy was also happy, socialising with staff and I know that I speak for all who worked at Bretherton, that these moments often have formed the greatest memories. Memories shared include him showing off his dancing at the Governors Ball, being Santa at the staff’s secret Santa event, coming on staff do’s and at our staff Christmas meal last year, he was invited to dance and he responded by laughing ‘It’ll have to be a very slow one’.
Even though he had a busy diary, Tommy was always willing to attend school and parent events, and would relish speaking to our new parents each year. When I asked each time, he would say, ‘yes I’d like to say a few words. Then at the event, he’d produce a tiny piece of paper that he had written his notes on before speaking confidently to them for 10 minutes. I enjoyed hearing him recount his story of his connection to Bretherton and our school and it’s with great joy that so many families also heard this.
He would attend our Easter, Christmas and Harvest worships in church and would take the opportunity to thank the staff for their hard work. He relished the role of wellbeing governor and spent time genuinely listening to staff’s views and acting to make a difference. Sports Day was a firm favourite with him scoring the children’s finishing places and he always had reserved seats for our productions.
He approached the PTFA events in school with the same professionalism that we knew to expect. He was invited to lead the PTFA AGM each year and when asked to light the Christmas Fair Christmas Tree lights with Santa, he asked ‘How long should I talk for?’. It made me smile to see him reading from his notes and relegating Santa to just the countdown. One of his favourite school events, after Cricket competitions, was our whole school Christmas lunch. Our special visitors and staff sat on the ‘Top Table’ and Tommy would sit right in the centre –enjoying spending time with school friends and watching the children having fun.
And who could forget our wonderful Bingo caller. For many years with his wife, Barbara ably assisting, they welcomed so many families to the event. In a typical Tommy way, he conscientiously bought the bingo cards, separated the books, prepared the float and even brought his own bingo machine. It has left us with great joy, that we could share our Easter Bingo and his bright sparkly waistcoat one last time with him this year.
Tommy is woven within the fabric of our school - his presence in school will be missed. It is said that some people come into our lives and leave footprints on our hearts so that we are never ever the same. Thank you Tommy for this is you. You treasured your involvement with Bretherton Endowed and we are all indebted to you for your time, support, expertise and friendship over so many years and we hope that you know how special you are to us.
Bretherton Teaching team past and present.