The Memorial Wall

David (Dai ) Davies, passed away surrounded by his family on Monday, May 6, aged 74 years.

David was the Community Policeman in Norton for 30 years and was often seen cycling around his beat.

Later on David worked for Beecham's Pharmacy delivering prescriptions to people at home.

He was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2014.

A few years later he joined the Dancing With Parkinson's group at Kirkham Henry Performing Arts Centre in Malton.

Angela Kirkham, who runs the classes said: "Dave loved the music and enjoyed the comradery of the group. His sense of humour often came to the fore.

"We will fondly remember Dave for his sense of humour and initially questioning the reasoning behind some of the movements. Sending love to you and the family."

Hundreds of people gathered for a special service to celebrate the life of a much-loved Greenock priest who was devoted to his parishioners both at home and in his adopted country of Chile.

Tributes have flooded in for Father Neil Sharp, who grew up in Greenock's east end, following his death last week after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

Bishop John Keenan led a moving Requiem Mass in St Ninian's Gourock, delivering a beautiful homily that spoke to all those who loved Father Neil.

Attendees were joined by priests as well as family, friends and those who remembered him from his time at St Mungo's and St Patrick's in Greenock.

His beloved brother Father Jim Sharp and hundreds more joined the mass via a livestream in Arica in Chile, where the Greenock man passed away at the age of 78.

Father Neil travelled with his brother to serve in Chile 45 years ago, during the military dictatorship of Pinochet, finding ways to help the people, and he remained there for the rest of his life.

Bishop John Keenan said: "In life and ministry, Neil was known for his love of life and sense of fun, with an infectious laugh that could reach to the uproarious when the three Sharp brothers got together.   

"And yet countless, too, are the stories of how he turned lives around by sharing his joy of life and revealing to lost souls their wealth of talent even in their direst straits.

"A true man of God, evident in all that he said and did.  The world over is a better place because Father Neil Sharp lived in it."

In 1979 Father Neil and his brother Father Jim went together to Chile, where they found people to be living in fear of Pinochet and his regime.

Bishop Keenan said: "This was during the Pinochet dictatorship in which the Church was the only place you could speak even mild criticism. 

"To say the poor had rights was to be a communist. But the bishops were strong, and the Sharp brothers found that a wee bit of persecution did the Church no harm and focussed attention on basics.  

"Throughout it all the ups and downs, Neil remained contented in his priesthood and peaceful in his ministry.  

"Schooled in the Saint Mungo experience of authentic religion, Father Neil saw Arica as the Gibshill of his altar boy years and tried to build it up with real religion and no frills. "

In Aria, Father Neil took his love of God and his ministry into the prisons and hospitals.

Bishop John added: "He was well received by the people and formed a rapport with them; they took to him and liked him, feeling he was interested in them, and he responded to that."

Father Neil set up a monthly magazine and embraced technology and was popular on the radio.

But he never lost touch or his love of home and remained very much part of the Paisley Diocese.

Father Neil Sharp, or Padre Andrés Sharp Langan, to give him his Arican title, was born in the east end of Greenock in November 1945, the third child of six to Ellen and Neily Sharp, and was baptised and raised in the St Mungo’s parish.

His life of service began as an altar boy and culminated in his ordination to the priesthood at his church in 1970 after studying at St Peter's Seminary in Cardross.

Father Neil was then Curate at St Margaret’s in Johnstone from 1970 to 1974, then in St Patrick’s in Greenock from 1974 to 1978.

Father Neil is remembered for his love of life, his love of football and as a life long supporter of Greenock Morton.

At school his family recall he was a champion bogie maker and used to love the rough and tumble of life in the east end. 

In 2010, he developed Parkinson’s which remained manageable until 2017 when, after a knee operation, he felt a gradual slide. 

At the beginning of the year, the disease finally took its toll and he died peacefully in the home of the Little Sisters in Arica on May 3 with his funeral a day later in St Mark's Cathedral in Arica, Chile.

Following his death many people who remembered his time in local parishes, friends and family paid tribute to him, calling him an 'inspiration' in their own lives.

At his Requiem Mass in St Ninian's Gourock, his sister Betty gave a greeting in Spanish at the end of Mass, which was then played on the morning programme on Radio Montecarmelo de Arica.

Afterwards she said: "I would really like to say is thank you to Bishop John and Bishop Moses of the Arican diocese, all the clergy and friends who have expressed their sympathy. 

"He was a wonderful priest and man and it was a privilege to be his sister."

We are very sad to report that Bill Giduz passed away on May 11th, 2024. Born William Roland Giduz on April 12, 1952, Bill grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. His father was a journalist and his mother was the town manager for Chapel Hill.

Bill Giduz was an extremely important figure in the juggling community around the world. His contributions were many, varied, and of great importance. Bill is universally credited as the inventor of the sport of joggling, where track and long-distance races are run while juggling. Bill started joggling in 1975 and brought that activity to the International Jugglers’ Association (IJA) in 1980. He organized and ran the races for many years at the IJA as the Joggling Director and took the sport to many other regional festivals as well. The sport of joggling is recognized by the Guinness World Record Book and continues as a part of the annual IJA Festival and elsewhere. 

Bill became an IJA Board member in the 1970s and served in various capacities over the next several decades, including working as the Affiliates Director, Joggling Director, and heading up World Juggling Day celebrations. In 1979, Bill Giduz took over publishing the IJA Newsletter, which he later turned in the professional quality Juggler’s World Magazine. Bill served as editor of Juggler’s World from 1981 to 1997, working to connect jugglers around the world. His work with Juggler’s World showcased his immense talent as a writer and photographer. He served as IJA President from 1985 to 1987. Bill received the IJA Extraordinary Service Award in 1993. 

Bill was one of the founders of the Atlanta Juggling Association and was the first secretary in 1977. He researched and obtained the Phil trophies for the Groundhog Day Jugglers Festival from 1979 to 2017. Even after moving away, Bill continued to support and attend the Groundhog Day festival and bring the trophies with him each year. 

In 1980, Bill moved to Davidson, NC to work as the Director of Media Relations at Davidson College. He brought his love for juggling with him and helped run the Hurricane Hugo Juggling Festival there for over two decades. He also established a yearly survey of Davidson College students to find what percentage of them could juggle. Bill retired from Davidson College in 2017. 

Bill served as a photographer at many juggling festivals for decades, recording wonderful memories that are still enjoyed and appreciated today. Bill was renowned for his gentle spirit and generosity to all who came in contact with him.

Bill had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease and succumbed to a bout of pneumonia on May 11th, 2024. Our sincere condolences go out to his family and many friends.

Robert Paglia, 57, of Delray Beach, Florida, left this earth after bravely battling Parkinson’s Disease. A fighter until the end, he passed away on May 18th.

Bob was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania, on June 18, 1964. Bob was the son of Carol Paglia and the late Robert Paglia. As an adult, he relocated to Florida to follow his dreams. He not only started his own successful construction company but also designed his dream home. In addition to being a hard-working entrepreneur, Bob was an avid outdoorsman and was happiest when he was boating, fishing, scuba diving or hunting. To know Bob was to love him. He lit up a room when he walked in and was always surrounded by others, sharing stories of his adventures. He was a genuine, vibrant person and everyone that knew him was better for it.

Bob is predeceased by his father, Robert Paglia, and his brother, Ronald Paglia. He is survived by his mother, Carol Paglia; sister, Linda Dougherty and her husband, Jim; along with many nieces and nephews. Bob’s memory will live on forever in the hearts of family and friends.

VATICAN CITY, Sunday, April 3 - Pope John Paul II died Saturday night, succumbing finally to years of illness endured painfully and publicly, ending an extraordinary, if sometimes polarizing, 26-year reign that remade the papacy.

He died at 9:37 p.m. in his apartment three stories above St. Peter's Square, as tens of thousands of the faithful gathered within sight of his lighted window for a second night of vigils, amid millions of prayers for him from Roman Catholics around the world as his health declined rapidly.

People wept and knelt on cobblestones as the news of his death spread across the square, bowing their heads to a man whose long and down-to-earth papacy was the only one that many young and middle-aged Catholics around the world remembered. For more than 10 minutes, not long after his death was announced, the largely Roman crowd simply applauded him.

"I have looked up to this man as a guide, and now it is like a star that has suddenly disappeared," said Caeser Aturi, 38, a priest from Ghana, which the widely traveled pope visited in 1980, on a continent where the Roman Catholic church grew sizably under his reign.

He was born Karol Wojtyla on May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, Poland. He was 84 years old.

Hospitalized twice since Feb. 1 and suffering for a decade from Parkinson's disease, John Paul's health hit its last crisis on Thursday, when the Vatican announced that a urinary tract infection had caused a high fever and unstable blood pressure.

In the next day, his kidneys and cardio-respiratory system began to fail. On Saturday morning, his chief spokesman, Dr. Joaquín Navarro-Valls, announced grimly that the Pope had begun to fade from consciousness.

His last hours were spent, Dr. Navarro-Valls said in a statement early on Sunday, by "the uninterrupted prayer of all those who surrounded him." At 8 p.m. Mass was celebrated in his room, the statement said, and he was administered the final Catholic rite for the sick and dying for the second time, having already received it on Thursday.

He was surrounded at his death by a close circle of aides from Poland: his two personal secretaries, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz and Monsignor Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki; Cardinal Marian Jaworski, Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko; the Rev. Tadeusz Styczen, as well as three Polish nuns who have long worked in his residence. His personal doctor, Renato Buzzonetti, two other doctors and two nurses were also there.

After a doctor certifies his death, tradition calls for the Vatican camerlengo, Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo, who will run the Vatican until a new pope is chosen, to call out his baptismal name three times. He then strikes the pope's forehead with a silver hammer to ensure he is dead. The hammer is then used to destroy the papal ring, the symbol of his authority.

In the last few weeks before his death, he deteriorated to the point where he seemed, as his spokesman once said, to be "a soul pulling a body" -- an example, his supporters said, of the dignity of old age and the value of suffering. Some critics said it was a symbol of a papacy in need of rejuvenation.

In his last public appearance, from his window on Wednesday, he looked weak and gaunt, unable to pronounce a blessing to the crowd. Still recovering from a tracheotomy on Feb. 24, a pope known for his great ability as a communicator could hardly speak.

From his home country of Poland, to Africa, Asia and Latin America, world leaders and ordinary people alike reacted both in sorrow and some relief that the pope's long suffering had finally ended. There are more than a billion Roman Catholics worldwide.

"The world has lost a champion of human freedom and a good and faithful servant of God has been called home," President Bush said at the White House. "Pope John Paul II was himself an inspiration to millions of Americans and to so many more throughout the world."

In 1978, he came to office as a fit and handsome 58-year-old, blessed with a charisma, intellectual vigor and energy that took him to 129 foreign countries as the pulse of the Catholic Church moved away from an increasingly secular Europe to Africa, Asia and Latin America.

He served either the second or third longest of any pope, depending who did the counting, in the nearly 2,000-year history of the papacy.

A Pole chosen as the first non-Italian pope in 455 years, he transformed the papacy into a television-ready voice for peace, war and life, from the womb to the wheelchair. He also reached beyond religion into human rights and politics, encouraging his fellow Poles and other Europeans to reject Communism. Many historians say he deserves part of the credit for the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union.

Even as his own voice faded away, his views on the sanctity of all human life echoed unambiguously among Catholics and Christian evangelicals in the United States on issues from abortion to the end of life. He died just two days after Terri Ann Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman whose supporters cited the pope's teachings in long court battles with her husband, who won the right to remove her feeding tube. On Wednesday, the pope was himself fitted with a nasal feeding tube.

"This pope will have a place in history," Giancarlo Zizola, an Italian Vatican expert, said Saturday after his death. "Not just for what he is glorified for now, for attracting the great masses, as a sporty pope -- this won't last. Not even the fall of Berlin Wall, the defeat of communism, because he himself said it would destroy itself.

"But he will be remembered for the seeds he laid," he added. "He will be remembered for his great favoring of dialogue between different religions, for the culture of peace, and the courage to speak against wars. For having saved the values of the West from the West itself. And the human form he gave to the papacy. It is not negative or positive: it is a complete pontificate."

John Paul's detractors were often as passionate as his supporters, criticizing him for what they said was tradition-bound papacy in need of a bolder connection with modern life if the church wanted to bring back to the faith people in more secular Western nations.

"The situation in the Catholic Church is serious," Hans Kung, the eminent Swiss theologian, who was barred by the pope from teaching in Catholic schools because of his liberal views, wrote last week in an open letter to several European newspapers. "The pope is gravely ill and deserves every compassion. But the church has to live."

"In my opinion, he is not the greatest pope but the most contradictory of the 20th century," he added. "A pope of many, great gifts, and of many bad decisions."

Among liberal Catholics, he was criticized for his strong opposition to abortion, homosexuality and contraception, as well as the ordination of women and married men.

Though he was never known as a strong administrator of the dense Vatican bureaucracy, he kept a centralizing hand on the selection of bishops around the world and enforced a rigid adherence to many basic church teachings among the clergy and Catholic theologians like Dr. Kung.

But he defied easy definition: For all his conservatism on social and theological issues, he was decidedly forward looking -- too much so even for some cardinals -- on the delicate question of other religions.

While never veering from his belief that Jesus Christ alone was capable saving the souls of human beings, he reached out tirelessly to other faiths, becoming the first pope to set foot in a synagogue, in Rome in 1986, as well as in a mosque, in Damascus, Syria, in 2001.

And, as attention turned to who might be the next the pope -- would he be old or young; conservative or liberal; Italian, South American or African? -- most experts said John Paul-like charisma would no longer be optional. He was a most public man: traveling, bear-hugging, chatting and preaching the value of love with a warmth that belied his often-doctrinaire positions on church issues.

"He came across in some ways as a regular guy," said Michael Walsh, a British biographer of the pope and a former Jesuit priest. "Famous for looking at his watch. What pope looks at his watch? In Britain we're proud that he used to wear Doc Martin boots. He would watch football, drink a glass of wine."