Obituaries
In Memory of GEORGE BRIGHT
Those of you who knew George Bright will be saddened to hear that he passed away on Tuesday 16 March 2021 in Darrent Valley Hospital. Our condolences to wife Doreen and family. George and Doreen were founder members of Medway Skylarks and appear in a picture of our first session on 14 January 2017. George is standing, third face from right, and Doreen is sitting on far right. George loved ‘Oh What a Beautiful Morning’ and can be heard singing it at the Neuro-Fair performance on the video posted on this Skylarks page - scroll down to Medway Neuro Fair videos. Wait for the final ‘Day” when George hits the high note option dead-on - what a star!!! We will miss George, but his memory will always be with us. Sue Lovell: I’m so sorry to hear about George. I do remember him from the first Skylarks session and from transcribing the focus group. Mark McGrevey: Such sad sad news. Please pass on our love and condolences from both myself and Mandy. Judith Northwood-Boorman: I'm so sad to hear this news. He was such a lovely, charming man. Really enjoyed his enthusiasm with John Kanakanaka. Kim Williams: I’m so very sorry to hear about George, he was such a lovely man who made everyone smile and always had a twinkle in his eye. I loved seeing him singing Oh what a beautiful morning.. it’s one of my favourite memories of Skylarks. Ann & Malcolm Duckworth: We certainly remember George and of course Doreen. We remember one day Doreen said to us that she had been in the kitchen and she saw George marching up and down the back garden singing “oh what a beautiful morning” at the top of his voice! He was definitely a character and loved singing! Give our love to Doreen. Ian Prior: That is very sad news, but thanks for letting us know. I send my condolences. Frank Geoghagen: Sad news indeed, George was a lovely man with great courage and a delightful sense of humour. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him. I watched the O what a beautiful morning video. Well done George perfectly pitched note to finish
In Memory of BARRY CANN
We are extremely sorry to report the passing of our dear Medway Skylark Barry Cann on 8 December 2020. Our condolences go to Barry's wife Linda, daughter Rosie and his wider family. This includes our Medway Skylarks founder, Trish Vella-Burrows, who was Barry's cousin. Barry was hospitalized with serious back pain in October, but rejoined Skylarks on his return home. Barry's last Skylarks session was on 5 December and our facilitator, Sue Lovell, remarked then how well he was looking.... So the news of Barry's passing was indeed a great shock to us all.
Barry's favourite song was Danny Boy, and on 12 December Sue Lovell sang this song in memory of him and recorded it; please click the picture to the right to see the video. The Skylarks all joined in on the final verse and the emotion transcends the Zoom latency issues.
The picture (right) was taken at Medway Skylark's performance at the Medway Clinical Commisioning Group's AGM in 2018; Barry is standing front left.
We will miss Barry so badly; he was a stalwart of the Group and had a fine singing voice.
Barry's favourite song was Danny Boy, and on 12 December Sue Lovell sang this song in memory of him and recorded it; please click the picture to the right to see the video. The Skylarks all joined in on the final verse and the emotion transcends the Zoom latency issues.
The picture (right) was taken at Medway Skylark's performance at the Medway Clinical Commisioning Group's AGM in 2018; Barry is standing front left.
We will miss Barry so badly; he was a stalwart of the Group and had a fine singing voice.
In Memory of Ben Odom (Benjamin William Odom), 1953 - 2019Ben Odom (Benjamin William Odom 1953-2019)
We are extremely sad to report the passing of Ben and our most sincere condolences are sent to his wife Janet, and Family. Ben is survived by his brothers and sister, his wife Janet, and his children Helen, Juliet, Jonathan, Becky, Jemima and Elliott. He also has two grandchildren, Harry and Clara, plus two more on the way.
A service in memory of Ben was held at St Margaret's Church, Rochester on 11 June 2019. The fact that the church was packed was a testament in itself to how many people Ben's outstanding life has touched and influenced. The Eulogy, read by Revd Dr Joel Love, told us of a most remarkable life. We learnt that Ben had been a schoolboy chorister and later a choral student at St John's College Cambridge. His recordings with fellow solo chorister Roger Parker are most highly regarded - and still played on BBC Radio 3. One such recording of 'Sanctus' and 'Benedictus' from Benjamin Britten's 'Miss Brevis' was played at this service. Later, as a freelance soloist and choral singer, Ben worked with celebrated choirs such as the Monteverdi Choir and the BBC Singers. As well as performing, Ben was also: an ochestral conductor at Cambridge; an accomplished accompanist; a voice tutor; and Musical Director of the Marlowe Singers in Gravesend, the Tudor Consort in Rochester, Kent, and the Darent Valley Choir.
We remembered Ben at Skylarks on 25 May, singing 'The Lord's my Shepherd' and 'Abide with Me'. Frank Geoghegan passed on condolences from our Choir Leader Trish Vella-Burrows, who unfortunately couldn't be with us. Frank said "Ben was a lovely man and a talented musician and will be greatly missed by all - please pass on my condolences to Janet and Family." Judith Northwood-Boorman read out a Eulogy that she had written about Ben, and this can be viewed by clicking HERE
Ben will be so sadly missed by so many and Medway Skylark's condolences are extended once more to Janet and the Family.
A service in memory of Ben was held at St Margaret's Church, Rochester on 11 June 2019. The fact that the church was packed was a testament in itself to how many people Ben's outstanding life has touched and influenced. The Eulogy, read by Revd Dr Joel Love, told us of a most remarkable life. We learnt that Ben had been a schoolboy chorister and later a choral student at St John's College Cambridge. His recordings with fellow solo chorister Roger Parker are most highly regarded - and still played on BBC Radio 3. One such recording of 'Sanctus' and 'Benedictus' from Benjamin Britten's 'Miss Brevis' was played at this service. Later, as a freelance soloist and choral singer, Ben worked with celebrated choirs such as the Monteverdi Choir and the BBC Singers. As well as performing, Ben was also: an ochestral conductor at Cambridge; an accomplished accompanist; a voice tutor; and Musical Director of the Marlowe Singers in Gravesend, the Tudor Consort in Rochester, Kent, and the Darent Valley Choir.
We remembered Ben at Skylarks on 25 May, singing 'The Lord's my Shepherd' and 'Abide with Me'. Frank Geoghegan passed on condolences from our Choir Leader Trish Vella-Burrows, who unfortunately couldn't be with us. Frank said "Ben was a lovely man and a talented musician and will be greatly missed by all - please pass on my condolences to Janet and Family." Judith Northwood-Boorman read out a Eulogy that she had written about Ben, and this can be viewed by clicking HERE
Ben will be so sadly missed by so many and Medway Skylark's condolences are extended once more to Janet and the Family.