Honoring Great Uncle John

Whenever we make it to England, we always try to get to Bristol to see Rob’s Great Uncle John. This photo was taken during our trip in December 2013.

And this was back when Elliot was 2.

When we had our family trip to Minehead in May, everyone stopped by to see him, either on the way there, or on the return trip. He’s always been healthy and sharp, and very engaged in all our family’s news and developments. But a month or two ago, he fell ill and had to move to a nursing home. But he was in good spirits when we stopped in to see him.

Elliot was especially eager to see John – probably because when we saw him last he’d given Elliot his compass and had also revealed that during World War II he’d been a code breaker – a spy! This was the first anyone in the family knew this piece of news. It was quite exciting. So on this last visit, Elliot insisted on wanting to go up to see Uncle John, and it was a good thing. John lit up when he saw Elliot, and asked him all about soccer and school and how he’d found his time in England.

We’d just watched The Imitation Game a few days earlier, about how Alan Turing had cracked Nazi codes at Bletchley Park, so Rob asked John if he’d ever interacted with Turing. John said that his job was to intercept the Nazi communications and pass on the codes but that he never knew what the codes meant. Apparently on two or three occasions, codes that he’d intercepted caused some excitement and went directly to Turing’s team at Bletchley Park. So who knows what horrors may have been averted because of John’s work?

Five days after we saw him, John passed away peacefully in his sleep. He was 91.

We were so grateful the family had been able to see him so recently. And we’re grateful to be in England to attend his funeral. With family stretched across continents, we’ve missed so many funerals of dear grandparents and great aunts and uncles. So it is a special privilege to be able to honor and reflect on John’s life while we’re here.

(I think he’s second from left)

We’d never seen any of these photos before of his time during the war.

(front row, far left?)

(second from right)

(back row, third from right)

He was quite an extraordinary man, and after returning from the war and working in business for ten years, he moved to Bangladesh to become the director of a missionary hospital.

(back row, far left)

At his funeral, we were all astonished to hear from a woman who had worked with him during this time. I think he was there from 1967-76. She said she’d called the hospital after his death to tell the staff the news, and they remembered dear “Mr. Davies.” To think that after all these years, he’s still known and loved in that far-off land. We also heard that in 1971, fierce civil war broke out and all foreigners were instructed to leave, but John insisted on staying on through very real danger.

He’d also at one point been a Wycliffe Bible translator. His Christian faith ran very deep, and the many people who stood up to share their memories invariably spoke of him as a quiet and modest man who put his faith into action through a lifetime of genuine love, care, and concern for those around him.

As a mother witnessing my kids experiencing their first funeral and encounter with the death of someone they cared about, I am deeply grateful for Uncle John’s beautiful example of a devoted Christian life that points to the hope and joy we have that overcomes death.