David was born into a Christian home in 1945. Three generations of the family, comprising seven persons, lived in a small house in Liverpool, due to the post-war housing shortage.
David was the first of three brothers, and the family regularly attended church and Sunday School. He came to personal faith in Christ in his teens, and, having been a good student, moved south for work. His skill with computers led to jobs with Barclays Bank and American Express.
In 1970, he married Susan Mitchell of Courland Grove Chapel, Clapham. They bought a new house in Haywards Heath, and joined Cuckfield Baptist Church, where David’s musical talent was soon in demand, and where he did valuable work among the young people. He was a gifted musician, playing the piano and organ well.
Praise! hymnbook
David’s legacy in the big scheme of evan-gelicalism is the compilation of the hymn-book, Praise! Jim Sayers was one of the team, and he says: ‘David worked so hard on the music team to get us to publication back in 2000. He had the least time, and the team moved mountains.’ He avoided publicity about his involvement as far as possible; the only reference to him in the printed book is his name as part of the team on page xii of the words edition, with a similar entry in the music edition.
Gill Berry, who worked with David on the compilation of Praise! says of him: ‘I remember David as a very intelligent, talented and gracious man, with a great sense of humour.’
Music in his soul
Sadly, David was unable to communicate for his last four years, but he had a way of showing his pleasure when someone would play the piano and sing hymns for him while he was in Horncastle House, Sharpthorne. Music was somehow deep in his soul and found a response.
David was married to Sue for 48 years. They have five adult children, all of whom attended a thanksgiving service at Cuckfield on 8 November 2018, following his death on 4 October.
