All the beautiful cards, letters, emails and also the messages posted to his 'blog' gave us many happy, cherished moments. So many acts of kindness brought the light of pure love to the darkest days.

I thank you all on behalf of David and I with a full heart.

Special thanks today to all those taking part in this service and to those who have given so much of themselves to make this day a happy celebration of David who we all love so much.

Debra

Tribute
Dex Smith

DAVE

I would like to offer my condolences to Debra, Dave's wife. To his children, Kirstie and Kristofer: Dave's family from Houghton; and Debra's family from Southport.

We've all lost a very dear friend. Dave is someone we will miss very deeply.

When talking about Dave, it's impossible not to mention Debra in the same breath. Debra has also lost her best friend, a husband and her musical partner. They have lived and worked so closely together for 20 years, and just as the pain at this moment is so intense, so I'm sure will the happy memories be equally as intense when Debra looks back and remembers their life and the happy times together.

Dave touched lots of peoples' lives through his music, thousands of kids through his and Debra's Rory productions, the parents of those children who watched Dave's shows realising Rory was not just the usual holiday camp production, but productions filled with lots of great songs, ideas and characters.

We will be reminded of Dave for a lot of years to come when we hear by chance one of his theme tunes on the TV, or the kids playing a CD, or a piece of Church music.

The last few years Dave was involved a lot in this church, playing conducting and organising music here. Dave told me this gave him some of the greatest satisfaction and pleasure he had ever had from music.

I've known Dave for over 20 years. He was at my wedding in Germany where he also acted as photographer, enthusiastically organising the guests in the correct order of appearance for the camera. And I was really impressed. It was only later that I realised this was largely down to Debra's dad's influence, Pete, a professional photographer.

He also played organ at my daughter Elena's christening in Germany, secretly re-arranging a little tune Elena's granddad had written for her into a full blown organ recital. With that, for Dave small gesture, he made an old man unbelievably happy and proud.

He was more than a friend to me and I think I was more than a friend to him. We were like brothers without all the family problems, we were soul mates. When we had problems or something major was happening in our lives, the other one would somehow sense it and get in touch. It was uncanny but it was really like that. We could sense what the other was feeling.

I often told Dave how great he was, how talented he was, how much I and lots of people respected his work and thought a lot about him and how he had achieved a lot in his life. How proud I was of him and how proud he should be of himself. But somehow I had the impression in his striving for perfection and always looking for the next opportunity to further his career, he never really believed me.

Debra and I told him all these things again in his last hours, and I think he finally really believed us. I think he realised he had achieved a lot with his life. And that somehow gave me a great sense peace. And just like all those other times when I sensed what Dave was feeling. This feeling of peace I was feeling, came from him.

Dave, thanks for being my friend.
You will always have a special place in my heart.

For David From Debra
written by Debra
Read by Celia Marchisio

As a small choirboy at his beloved church of ‘St Michael and All Angels’, David was so enthralled by the power and energy of the church organ that he decided he wanted to learn how to play it. Right there in that moment David’s love of music was born.

How grateful am I to have known such a gifted, talented and spiritually attuned man.

I am privileged to have shared his journey through life, and blessed to have shared his music. Listening to our favourite songs would lift us both on bad days; creating music with each other was truly special; most importantly the power and potential healing that music can bring to any soul, was discovered together.

We all know that David enjoyed running his own band in his youth, that he excelled in arranging and producing well known songs for many happy listeners, that he was thrilled to write songs for children across the UK; especially when so many children wrote to him to say thank you. But what many of you don’t know is that David never felt like he had made much of an impact on anybody, that he always wondered if he had ‘made a splash’ in the vast ocean of life. Well David, you did, you really ‘made a splash’ and you were loved for being you. You are loved still.

I came to realise that David’s desire to reach out for music that day as a small choirboy eventually brought him back to the music he loved most, music that would mean everything to him and to many others. For by God’s grace he began work here at St Mary and St Nicholas Church, as Director of Music and I know this took his musical gifts to a much higher level.

It became clear before long that the music David began to write for the choir, music group and congregation here at this church was his ‘life passion’. He would sit for hours in our home working on anthems, songs, and ‘settings’. Then he would hurry out of the house saying, “I have to catch the printers, we are going to rehearse this tonight!”. His eyes would light up, his smile beaming, he would be so very excited that he could hardly wait to hear his music come to life. When it did, it was truly heaven sent. It was then that David’s musical talent and ability shone like the brightest star.

David and I always felt that during the ‘writing’ process something much bigger than either of us would inspire us and we felt we were channelling music from a much higher source. I know this made him feel humble, that he was in awe of God’s gifts, that really he had found his heaven here on earth.

Everybody shared in his music as we sang it and played it. We listened to his music and were deeply moved by it; and though ‘heaven sent’ it has to be recognised that David’s certain style, his own special magical, musical touches made his music hit us all right in the heart. How blessed we are to have known you David. How you have enriched all our lives. We thank you.

So of course we will all remember David’s beautiful smile, we will all remember his sense of humour, his laugh, his sensitivity, his wisdom, his spirituality and we will all remember his positivity. We will forever enjoy his wonderful music and we all know he will live on with us each time we sing his lyrics, or hum one of his melodies.

But I ask you now to take a moment to remember David’s amazing courage, his strength, his bravery. He quietly fought a long and difficult battle to stay here with us, never giving up; always having hope; always writing music. For David still had so much more music inside of him that he wanted to write, that he wanted to share. During recent months he wrote some of his most inspired works; you will hear them today. David had so much to give, so much love and music inside him that now he will be sharing it with choirs of angels, of this I am sure.

We love you David, we are so very proud of you. Your star will keep shining and we will hold you in our hearts forever.

Address
Canon David Eaton

David’s death has come as a hammer blow to all of us who knew and loved him and to the life of this church, where he has been an inspirational Director of Music.

We extend the sincerest of sympathies to Debra and Kirstie and Kristofer in their loss.

Dex has spoken movingly of David and with great affection about their friendship which goes back many years.

I would like to try and give snapshots of David’s life and the many things which were important to him. It is a life rich in accomplishment and a great deal of talent, hard work and ability; a life which loved life and all that there is to be discovered and enjoyed.

You may have noticed that David was a Geordie. He grew up in Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham, and it was in the Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels he first learnt to play the organ. He quite often spoke of that time. It was clearly a very important and a formative beginning. It was from there that he went to Music College and his career took off.

If you’ve been on a Haven Holiday you will have seen and enjoyed David and Debra’s work. David was involved with Haven for 20 years. He put their annual show together – composed the music and wrote the numbers – which were performed in their holiday camps. After 20 years it was probably time to move on – as David said “there are only so many songs you can write about bananas!”. However it has been a hugely important part of David’s life with Rory the Tiger and all the other animals the kids loved. They put in a special appearance at David and Debra’s wedding. David also did the cruises and was proud to have played the QE2.

He was Musical Director at The Hilton on Park Lane and at the National Theatre for the David Hare Trilogy. He was also MD for panto at Christmas and played for many big names in the musical theatre world. Kids’ tv featured but latterly, although he would always be at home with light entertainment, he had become more focussed on the Anglican choral tradition and hence the pieces, like Psalm 150, which we are hearing today.

It is part of the tragic irony of David’s death that as his health got worse he seemed to be more inspired.

David loved Cathedrals. Because he was from the North East, naturally Durham was top of the list. If you’ve been there you’ll know it’s a great red-stoned imposing edifice on raised ground, hugely evocative and mysterious. All this appealed to David and drew out the music and faith within him. But as well as Durham, Liverpool (not dissimilar in style and equally imposing) pulled at his heart strings. A member of Debra’s family helped to lay the bricks. And then there was St Paul’s in London and Saturday Evensongs – a kind of preparation for services here on Sunday. Church and Cathedral visiting was a feature of David and Debra’s travels, be that St Peter’s Rome, the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, or a discovered favourite church whilst travelling in America.

David had a lot of energy. He used to knock off 100 lengths or one mile at Cannons. In fact rumour has it the reason that Cannons has changed hands recently is because they couldn’t make ends meet when David wasn’t able to be around so much. He was also an accomplished sub-aqua diver and made me very envious with descriptions of dives in the Red Sea and elsewhere.

For him this was all part of the richness life had to offer: he was daily on the NASA website, would rush outside to see the International Space Station go over. He loved ornithology, garden birds he spoilt rotten, and flowers: white roses and daffodils because they shouted new life (hence you have received on entering church today).

I used to get it in the neck from David because my computer skills are very plodding: David’s were state-of -the-art. An essential part of his work and a part of him, like breathing. Of course you had better make sure it was an Apple Mac you were using – he had no time for any of the other rubbish on the market.

Debra tells me that one Christmas they joined the Salvation Army Christmas Day Refuge as volunteers. David arrived with rubber gloves prepared to do the washing up, if you can believe it, but when they walked in they discovered that the TV was out of action. So it was off with the Marigolds an in with an old piano standing in the corner. He said: “Looks like we have been sent here today to use the gifts we have been given.” So he played and Debra sang: he even did a bit of washing up; and a great time was had by all.

Which brings us back to David’s music. He was a great musician, with a huge natural talent. And the outstanding thing for me about David as Director of Music was that he was equally at home with classical and popular music, whether playing, writing or conducting. A rare gift. That’s why we are hearing both in this service. Our choir and Music Group owe a great deal to his inspiration and leadership.

Like all good Directors of Music he didn’t mind laying down the law, but mostly, like the softy he was, he loved them and encouraged them, and they loved him in return. He brought musicians together and made it work.

He was particularly delighted with our 18th Century restored Thomas Parker pipe organ – as he said “a fantastic 50th Birthday present”. Here he was able to indulge his love of Handel and Purcell and West End Music. But he could also move on a pace on the electronic keyboard and grand piano, when he swung into easy listening and the popular standards or the new wave of Church Worship songs.

And it wasn’t all about him. He was Director of Music. He knew how to bring out the best in others and to make sure the music gelled and had the right balance. Nowhere was that more evident than in our annual Nine Lessons and Carols service which David had made his own. A unique blend of old and new church music, the congregation for which in the last few years has, I think, trebled.

He was also a composer. We are hearing his work today. I kept on at him to get it published and promised him, towards the end, that I would pursue publication in his memory. It deserves a wider hearing. Many of the pieces were written for specific people, or choir or group and were David’s way of saying you matter to me and this is how I show it. His death is a tragic loss in many ways. One of them is the music he had in him which was yet to be written.

David was, of course, very human. He wasn’t perfect and he wouldn’t want me to say he was. Things hadn’t always gone well or gone right. There may be regrets. Forgiveness may be needed. It all meant that David wore his heart on his sleeve and that is part of what was endearing about him. All of our lives are broken in some way. There is huge expectation in our culture and a good deal of finger pointing when things go wrong. The reality is that none of us is fully mature or whole. We often do the best we can, but even so things fall apart. David was vulnerable but we loved him for it.

David and I used to meet to choose the hymns for Sundays. About which we soon discovered you can please some of the people some of the time but there is always a Smart Alec who … well you get the picture. But actually quite a lot of the time, when we were together, we spent sharing what was getting us down. There are too few people you can do that with. Having a place to be yourself, and say it the way it is, is important. I will always remember David as someone willing to share his own frailty, and mine.

It was in this way he was devoted to those closest to him: Debra, Kirsty and Christopher, immediate members of his family and Debra’s, and also to many of us who were his friends and he ours. The waters of friendship ran deep.

Because his death is so premature it is hard to grasp. Can it really have happened? He fought to keep going. He wasn’t going to give up, or give in. He had found Princess Alice Hospice a great support.

This is equally true of the Queenscourt Hospice at Southport, where he died, with Debra and Dex at his bedside. And of course he made his mark there: by playing the grand piano for patients and staff, a final curtain, and hugely appreciated. Monies given in David’s memory will go to Queenscourt (you may do so as you leave). There had been no music there before David, to speak of, so these donations will be used to provide an Ipod for each patient who can then listen to the music of their choice.

I am thankful I was able to hear much of the music we have heard today before this service: otherwise I would have been on the floor. It is all too much, and all too much David, as we knew him and loved him.

The most telling line in the story of the raising of Lazarus is Mary and Martha’s: “If you had been here our brother would not have died”. Both affirmation of Jesus and his power to save, and yet reproach and anger that Lazarus was now dead. Which is, of course, so much of what we are all feeling today. We have lost a husband, a son, a father, a close relative, a dear friend. We have lost a man of great ability and talent, a gifted musician and conductor.

I can’t justify that to you or before God. There is no good reason to come up with. What perhaps we know is that is often not the business of God to spare us from a loss like this. But it is his business to bring hope out of despair, to bring new life and goodness out of tragedy

When Lazarus died Jesus wept. The Jews said: “How dearly he must have loved him”. Jesus said: “Did I not tell you: that if you have faith you will see the glory of God”.

It is for this we pray, as we honour David’s memory today, thankful for all that we received from David; thankful to have known him and loved him; blessed to have shared life with him. His legacy will always live on; his memory will always be cherished.

May he rest in peace and rise in glory.