JLB DeaneKNOWN AS "the Canon from Bandon", JLB (Barry) Deane, who has died aged 88, was chairman of the Church of Ireland Pensions Board for 15 years and played a major role in putting the scheme on a sound footing to the benefit of clergy, widows and orphans.
A layman, he was conferred an honorary canon in recognition of a lifetime dedicated to serving the church. A brilliant academic and a scholar of Trinity College, Dublin, where he qualified with a first in law, he never worked in paid employment. Remarkably, a lifetime of voluntary work was made possible by playing the stock market.
An incorrigible smoker, he gave up the pipe a few years ago but continued smoking cigarettes right up to the day he was admitted to St Patrick’s Hospital and Marymount Hospice in Cork just nine days before he died from cancer, which had recently been diagnosed.
An avid stamp collector from boyhood, he amassed nearly 50 albums, each beautifully presented. Not a man to suffer fools gladly, he was a formidable bridge player. Though his entire life was dedicated to the Church of Ireland, he never pressed religion on his daughter, Helen, who married a Catholic.
During a quarter of a century on the pensions board (chairman from 1990-2005) he was the driving force behind the creation of a valuable portfolio, thus ensuring members of the clergy and their widows could receive a better pension. Among his many contributions to church affairs, he wrote its official handbook on how its structures operate and particularly on the role of the laity.
For 56 years he served on the diocesan board of education, including 44 years as honorary secretary. In 2009 he attended his 60th synod, having been honorary secretary for 49 years.
His retirement from the pensions board marked what archbishop Eames described as “the end of an era” in lay involvement in the life of the church of Ireland.
Gifted at untangling complicated documents, he drew up an easily accessible analysis of the 2002 census statistics, reflecting a 29.6 per cent increase in membership of the Church of Ireland.
Because of his mother’s antipathy to Irish, he was sent to boarding school in Northern Ireland and London. Yet, Bandon Grammar School, just across the fields from his original home, was later to become his passion. Bishop Paul Colton of Cork, Cloyne and Ross said “the school, and countless numbers of pupils and their families have every reason to be indebted to him”.
He was quietly proud that his daughter teaches at the co-educational school, where a new wing, due to be opened on May 18th by former pupil and TV personality Graham Norton, will be named after the canon and his late wife.
Predeceased by his wife Dorrie, he is survived by his daughter Helen, grandchildren Christopher, Alison and Jillian and son-in-law Charles Redmond.
Canon JLB Deane: born April 8th, 1924; died April 21st, 2012.