The people of Renwick and the surrounding area were saddened to learn of the death of John Lishman, a resident for more than 40 years.
John was born on October 22 1931, in what was then Bombay, India, where his father was general manager of Sun Life Assurance.
He was the only child of Marjorie and Norman Lishman, of Morpeth.
John lived in India until he was almost seven, when he was brought home by his mother to attend Mowden Hall School, Darlington.
His mother returned to India; war broke out soon after, and John did not see his parents again until he was aged 13.
Mowden Hall School was evacuated to Windermere and it was there that John became seriously ill with pleurisy.
On leaving hospital, he went for a year to recuperate with his aunt and uncle at Crosshill Farm in Northumberland.
In 1941, he started at Newcastle Prep School which had been evacuated to Eslington Hall, the home of Lord Ravensworth.
After this he went to Durham School and it was there he developed his interest in church architecture and a love of sacred music. He took his higher certificate at Durham and then filled in the three months before national service back at Crosshill, helping out on the farm.
John thoroughly enjoyed his national service as he spent it in the Royal Engineers in Elgin where there was plenty of opportunity for climbing, hill walking and skiing.
By the time he finished his national service his parents had returned to England and he lived with them in Knowle, a village near Birmingham.
He joined his father at Sun Assurance — a period of his working life which he described as nothing but “death and disasters”.
The gloom of the workplace was offset by the friends he made on a climbing course at the Birmingham Athletic Institute and their weekends away in Wales, Derbyshire, Scotland and the Lake District — the group later became Mercian Mountaineering Club.
When one of the group was killed in a skiing accident, John became a founding member of the Greg’s Hut Association which renovated a miners’ bothy as a refuge for walkers on Cross Fell.
In 1960, he went to the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester to qualify as a land agent and took up a post with John Sale and Partners in Wooler.
It was while at Wooler that he met his future wife, Kate. They were married in 1966 and moved to North Wales, where John worked for the Ministry of Agriculture.
In 1975 he joined the estate management department at the newly-formed Cumbria County Council and he remained there until his retirement — he often said he was “blessed in being paid to do work he loved, in an area he loved, among people he loved”.
A countryman through and through, he had a lifelong interest in nature and knew a lot about trees, animals, birds and wildflowers.
He had a great respect for farmers and recognised their part in preserving the landscape. He followed Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling at agricultural shows and was also secretary of the Bewcastle Hunt (Renwick branch) for more than 30 years.
A loyal member of the Royal British Legion, and a poppy seller in Renwick parish, he said one of his proudest moments was when he represented the Armathwaite branch at the Remembrance Day march from Horse Guards Parade past the Cenotaph.
Few people knew about the voluntary welfare work he did on behalf of the Legion which involved helping ex-servicemen and their families with housing and financial problems and visiting the sick and elderly in hospital and their homes.
John and Kate moved to Renwick in 1976 and began attending All Saints’ Church.
The Rev Maurice Allen recognised John’s strong faith and personal qualities and encouraged him to become a churchwarden, a role he fulfilled diligently, efficiently and with compassion from 1977 to 2007.
The Queen’s Silver jubilee in 1977 saw the formation of Renwick sports committee, with John as its treasurer until 2013.
He loved his community and was passionate about keeping it alive and giving a warm welcome to newcomers.
He was friendly and hospitable and liked nothing better than a house full of happy people.
A friend, the late Alice Palmer, described John as a gentleman and a gentle man.
The funeral procession was led by Northumbrian piper Peter Lea, leaving the family home and walking to All Saints’ Church where a service of thanksgiving was conducted by the Rev Katherine Butterfield and Canon David Fowler. John was laid to rest in the churchyard.
