DICK McCOLGAN - A CHRISTIAN SPORTSMAN
Richard to his family, and Dick to his friends in athletics - he gave a lifetime of service to sport. A Churchill Scholar and Vice President of the Commonwealth Games Association. His family and many friends filled the cathedral for a service of thanksgiving before his Christian burial. Richard was a member of the Cathedral community and served as a Cathedral Steward. The Dean gave this address.
We have have gathered her to acknowledge a very remarkable person. Earlier this week Jonathan and I were talking about the playwright, Brian Friel and the way he uses two actors on stage to give us greater insight into the one character, as in “Philadelphia, Here I come” and “The Loves of Cass Maguire”.
And so it is with Richard - Dick McColgan. Richard to his wife and family; Dick to the sporting community.
Richard was the son of James and Sarah. He was brother to Samuel, and Edward who predeceased him, and to Joyce and Heather who are with us today.
He fell in love with Norma - the Floral Hall has a lot to answer for. And on April 1st, 52 years ago they married each other uniting families from St Paul’s and Holy Trinity parishes. In time they started their own dynasty - Karen, Tom, Donna and Jonathan, who in turn brought into their family Adrian, Pat, Phillippe and Michelle. And over twenty five years Richard and Norma’s much beloved grandchildren arrived - Thomas, Emma, Benjamin, Sarah, Matthieu, Katie, Emily, Jonnie, Mimi and Eva. The oldest 25 and the youngest 5 months.
So today we give thanks to God for a husband, a father, and a much beloved grandfather... a son, a brother, an uncle and a very good friend to many. In good Old Testament language, a patriarch has died; the father who could achieve silence - even in his bed in the Royal Victoria Hospital - simply by raising his finger. Richard has gone from his family’s midst. Those who loved him most will miss him most.
It has been my privilege during Richard’s short illness to get to know his clan in its unity and diversity; its way of making decisions, its way of working and its values. This very service is the result of a meeting of the family parliament at which I was present purely in an advisory role!
In the past four weeks I saw family love being evoked by the man who with his wife had coached his children in their life skills, their values and attitudes. The way in which Richard’s family approached his illness was exemplary. It was as basic as “Honour thy father and thy mother” in the positive sense of that commandment.
Today we honour Richard as a husband, a bread winner, and as a man who was concerned about his children’s education, and the development of each of their distinct talents.
The public man was known as Dick and his name is synonymous with service to sport and especially athletics in this province and much, much wider afield, especially in the Commonwealth. This interest and involvement came with his genes. His forebears had helped found Crusaders Football Club and Dick was a Crues man through thick and thin; week in week out; season after season. I think he once told me he stood where his grandfather stood.
His record in athletics speaks for itself and we have tried to give a short resume of a wonderful career on the order of service. There are very few people indeed who have given such service to the development and organisation of sport here - from club to country and commonwealth. In an age when money and drugs can contaminate values in sport, debasing record and honest efforts, I was delighted to read the tribute by Pat McCrory of the Ulster Boxing Council in "The Irish News” earlier this week. Pat said that Dick “played strictly by the rule book and he will be sorely missed”.
Ten years ago in April, my old friend, the unsurpassable Malcolm Brodie, in his World of Sport column in the Telegraph featured Dick’s contribution. The headline said it all - “Dick has been there and done it”. Malcolm said Dick epitomised “a very special breed of person” which Northern Ireland sport has a tradition of producing. He wrote, “Northern Ireland over the decades has been blessed with people devoting their lives to sport, to its advancement in the Province and who earn it world-wide respect and acclaim”. Dick was one of these.
Dick knew all the greats of the Games and he had a particular joy in being with the late Buster McShane in the stands at the Munich Olympics in 1974 when his friend Mary Peters won that very special Gold Medal in the pentathlon.
Ten years ago in that powerfully informative article, Malcolm stated that “Dick, with thirty years experience was the longest serving secretary on the international circuit; he is forceful with his views; his approach is one of honesty with no punches pulled - something that could also be said of his great pal Billy Stewart”. Malcolm concluded that “Dick...operated with a straight bat”.
One of the greatest disappointments in Dick’s service to the Commonwealth Games was that the troubles had prevented him fulfilling his ambition to see the games being staged in Northern Ireland. Surely one of the best tributes the local sports community could pay to Dick would be to rally round our local Commonwealth Games Committee and help them lobby this new administration at Stormont to achieve that very goal.
So much for the second side of Richard - Dick McColgan. We would be here all night if one was to cover even the highlights of this remarkable record of his service.
But you cannot even get on the track; you cannot begin to understand Richard - Dick McColgan without coming to terms with his faith in and his allegiance to Jesus Christ, and his lifelong active membership of this Church of Ireland.
Today in this service we celebrate the completion of Richard’s baptism. As an infant in our neighbouring parish of St Paul’s he was signed with the sign of the cross. He was baptised into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He later made his own profession of faith when he was confirmed. He was a lifelong regular communicant.
The values of his upbringing were re-enforced by his membership of the Boys’ Brigade - all the way through from the Lifeboys to service as Captain of the 11th Belfast Company and later membership of the Steadfast Association.
He was a man who kept his word. He honoured his promises given in his baptism and confirmation. He made his promises to to Norma when they married 52 years ago on April 1st - promises made in the sight of God and man. They promised that any children they had would be brought up in the fear and nurture of the lord - and their children were. Richard’s last big family do appropriately was the baptism of their youngest grandchild in St Patrick’s, Jordanstown on the Sunday before he went into hospital.
Richard was a member of the Cathedral Guild of Stewards who give a Christian welcome to our visitors. Friday mornings will not quite be the same because at some time or other you could be sure he would appear in the office to give us the benefit of whatever was on his mind. As a steward Richard certainly had a head start with visitors with his visits to the various parts of the Commonwealth and the various venues for the Olympic Games.
The values in his home life, the values in his contribution to sport were both earthed and inspired by his active communicant life. In his weekly communion with his risen Lord, he “had an anchor which kept his soul, steadfast and sure” - in good times and in his final illness.
The hymns we are singing today were selected by Richard. Death did not meet him unprepared. I had the privilege of being one of his spiritual coaches for his final illness. He knew what he was facing. He knew he was in the valley of the shadows of death. And as we shared a short period of prayer most days, I knew I was in the company of one who knew about Holy Living and Holy Dying.
The sympathy and love which I share with Norma, Richard’s family and Dick’s friends today is based on the certain knowledge that this remarkable Christian could like Saint Paul, look at the God who gave him life and love - and say to his God, on the very morning of the Belfast Marathon - “I am Richard. I have run the race, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith”.
For him the trumpets have sounded on the other side and he has received the victor’s crown of gold from the Lord and Saviour he served.
And so it is with Richard - Dick McColgan. Richard to his wife and family; Dick to the sporting community.
Richard was the son of James and Sarah. He was brother to Samuel, and Edward who predeceased him, and to Joyce and Heather who are with us today.
He fell in love with Norma - the Floral Hall has a lot to answer for. And on April 1st, 52 years ago they married each other uniting families from St Paul’s and Holy Trinity parishes. In time they started their own dynasty - Karen, Tom, Donna and Jonathan, who in turn brought into their family Adrian, Pat, Phillippe and Michelle. And over twenty five years Richard and Norma’s much beloved grandchildren arrived - Thomas, Emma, Benjamin, Sarah, Matthieu, Katie, Emily, Jonnie, Mimi and Eva. The oldest 25 and the youngest 5 months.
So today we give thanks to God for a husband, a father, and a much beloved grandfather... a son, a brother, an uncle and a very good friend to many. In good Old Testament language, a patriarch has died; the father who could achieve silence - even in his bed in the Royal Victoria Hospital - simply by raising his finger. Richard has gone from his family’s midst. Those who loved him most will miss him most.
It has been my privilege during Richard’s short illness to get to know his clan in its unity and diversity; its way of making decisions, its way of working and its values. This very service is the result of a meeting of the family parliament at which I was present purely in an advisory role!
In the past four weeks I saw family love being evoked by the man who with his wife had coached his children in their life skills, their values and attitudes. The way in which Richard’s family approached his illness was exemplary. It was as basic as “Honour thy father and thy mother” in the positive sense of that commandment.
Today we honour Richard as a husband, a bread winner, and as a man who was concerned about his children’s education, and the development of each of their distinct talents.
The public man was known as Dick and his name is synonymous with service to sport and especially athletics in this province and much, much wider afield, especially in the Commonwealth. This interest and involvement came with his genes. His forebears had helped found Crusaders Football Club and Dick was a Crues man through thick and thin; week in week out; season after season. I think he once told me he stood where his grandfather stood.
His record in athletics speaks for itself and we have tried to give a short resume of a wonderful career on the order of service. There are very few people indeed who have given such service to the development and organisation of sport here - from club to country and commonwealth. In an age when money and drugs can contaminate values in sport, debasing record and honest efforts, I was delighted to read the tribute by Pat McCrory of the Ulster Boxing Council in "The Irish News” earlier this week. Pat said that Dick “played strictly by the rule book and he will be sorely missed”.
Ten years ago in April, my old friend, the unsurpassable Malcolm Brodie, in his World of Sport column in the Telegraph featured Dick’s contribution. The headline said it all - “Dick has been there and done it”. Malcolm said Dick epitomised “a very special breed of person” which Northern Ireland sport has a tradition of producing. He wrote, “Northern Ireland over the decades has been blessed with people devoting their lives to sport, to its advancement in the Province and who earn it world-wide respect and acclaim”. Dick was one of these.
Dick knew all the greats of the Games and he had a particular joy in being with the late Buster McShane in the stands at the Munich Olympics in 1974 when his friend Mary Peters won that very special Gold Medal in the pentathlon.
Ten years ago in that powerfully informative article, Malcolm stated that “Dick, with thirty years experience was the longest serving secretary on the international circuit; he is forceful with his views; his approach is one of honesty with no punches pulled - something that could also be said of his great pal Billy Stewart”. Malcolm concluded that “Dick...operated with a straight bat”.
One of the greatest disappointments in Dick’s service to the Commonwealth Games was that the troubles had prevented him fulfilling his ambition to see the games being staged in Northern Ireland. Surely one of the best tributes the local sports community could pay to Dick would be to rally round our local Commonwealth Games Committee and help them lobby this new administration at Stormont to achieve that very goal.
So much for the second side of Richard - Dick McColgan. We would be here all night if one was to cover even the highlights of this remarkable record of his service.
But you cannot even get on the track; you cannot begin to understand Richard - Dick McColgan without coming to terms with his faith in and his allegiance to Jesus Christ, and his lifelong active membership of this Church of Ireland.
Today in this service we celebrate the completion of Richard’s baptism. As an infant in our neighbouring parish of St Paul’s he was signed with the sign of the cross. He was baptised into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He later made his own profession of faith when he was confirmed. He was a lifelong regular communicant.
The values of his upbringing were re-enforced by his membership of the Boys’ Brigade - all the way through from the Lifeboys to service as Captain of the 11th Belfast Company and later membership of the Steadfast Association.
He was a man who kept his word. He honoured his promises given in his baptism and confirmation. He made his promises to to Norma when they married 52 years ago on April 1st - promises made in the sight of God and man. They promised that any children they had would be brought up in the fear and nurture of the lord - and their children were. Richard’s last big family do appropriately was the baptism of their youngest grandchild in St Patrick’s, Jordanstown on the Sunday before he went into hospital.
Richard was a member of the Cathedral Guild of Stewards who give a Christian welcome to our visitors. Friday mornings will not quite be the same because at some time or other you could be sure he would appear in the office to give us the benefit of whatever was on his mind. As a steward Richard certainly had a head start with visitors with his visits to the various parts of the Commonwealth and the various venues for the Olympic Games.
The values in his home life, the values in his contribution to sport were both earthed and inspired by his active communicant life. In his weekly communion with his risen Lord, he “had an anchor which kept his soul, steadfast and sure” - in good times and in his final illness.
The hymns we are singing today were selected by Richard. Death did not meet him unprepared. I had the privilege of being one of his spiritual coaches for his final illness. He knew what he was facing. He knew he was in the valley of the shadows of death. And as we shared a short period of prayer most days, I knew I was in the company of one who knew about Holy Living and Holy Dying.
The sympathy and love which I share with Norma, Richard’s family and Dick’s friends today is based on the certain knowledge that this remarkable Christian could like Saint Paul, look at the God who gave him life and love - and say to his God, on the very morning of the Belfast Marathon - “I am Richard. I have run the race, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith”.
For him the trumpets have sounded on the other side and he has received the victor’s crown of gold from the Lord and Saviour he served.
