OLD AMPLEFORDIAN OBITUARIES The following pages contain a number of obituaries of Old Amplefordians who have died since the last Journal. A full list of Old Amplefordians’ and Ampleforth Society Members’ deaths is available on the website: www.ampleforth.org.uk/society JAMES DOVE (T95) died 21 October 2018, aged 41 James was one of six brothers including Nicholas (A64), Richard (A93), Simon, John (J62). His mother, Christina, had lost her husband ten years previously. Following adventurous ancestors, he was into anything and everything, entirely mischievous, funny, a prankster, willing to take risks, in short he loved living life. He loved life completely and he lived it intensely. At the Dragon School he learnt to dance the ‘Slide’ among other boring stuff and went on to Ampleforth and then Bristol University, where he learnt the arts of social life, which often involved driving to London. On holiday with his family in Palm Beach he got a speeding ticket on roller-blades. Suffering first diabetes, then financial hardship after his father’s debacle at Lloyds insurance, he was then diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Rather than surrendering to self-pity and becoming bitter, James threw himself into life with even more abandon and enthusiasm. He remained a friend to many, always quick with an infectious smile, a funny line and always eager to seek out another adventure. He needed love and support, and always seemed to have a devoted and stunning girlfriend at his arm until he met Candy, to whom he was going to be married. His exuberance and flamboyance were his courageous counter to the limits that increasingly closed in on him. He would laugh with all the problems of life and left behind his love to support his many friends and family whom he left so prematurely. CHRISTOPHER DAVID (O44) died 26 December 2019 aged 93 was ordained priest from the Beda in 1955 and served in parishes in Wales before deciding to leave the priesthood. He trained as a teacher and started and ran pastoral centres at Wick Court, Bristol and Crosby Hall near Liverpool. From his family home near Monmouth, he and his wife Gill organized convoys of lorries taking supplies to refugee camps in Croatia during the Bosnian war. They moved to Lanzarote in the 1990s, where they set up Niños del Tercer Mundo, which raised money to build schools and community centres in the developing world. Christopher and Gill supported the Chambo seminary in Ecuador; they were asked by the bishop to take charge for a time, which they did for several months. After Gill’s death, Christopher returned to Lanzarote, where he held a weekly meditation group. A deeply spiritual man, he would always support and take the time to listen to those to in need. His cousin Guy Neely (E50) wrote: “Nothing very remarkable but his life shows how much former priests can contribute, and what others might do in the post-sacerdotal era into which we are moving.”
VOLUME 125
69