Generosity of Ulster journalist John Trew remembered as funeral told he was also a 'raconteur' with 'gloriously silly sense of humour'
A former editor of the News Letter has been hailed as a man of generosity and wit as mourners said their final farewells today.
While still in his 30s John Trew had been appointed the paper’s editor in March 1974, and served in the role until February 1983.
He was suffering from liver cancer when he died at age 85 in the Ulster Hospital on August 23.
His funeral took place earlier today in S Clarke & Son's Funeral Church, Bangor, led by humanist celebrant Allie Ford; she is the actress who played policeman’s wife Dympna in Give My Head Peace.
She recalled John’s later work as a travel writer, and said: "Wherever he went, John gathered people, guidance, and stories – and his voice was as good as his pen.
"For years, he held a weekly slot on BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback, and was a familiar, clubbable presence on the airwaves.”
His extensive travels with wife Karen had led to the pair spending time in Michigan where she (a psychologist) held a Fulbright scholarship, and they lived “for an extended spell” in Hong Kong, too.
Ms Ford told mourners that, in recognition of his services to tourism, “the Commonwealth of Kentucky commissioned him a Kentucky Colonel – its highest honorary title” (in addition to similar accolades from the Spanish and French governments).
She said that those who knew him all cited the same word in their recollections of him: “raconteur”.
"He could, as his family say, hold a whole room,” she said.
He was also “gloriously silly” – for example creating a fictional tea-and-scone preservation society and appointing his friends to grandiose offices within it.
And, she added, “for all the achievement, the tributes that have poured in return again and again to John's kindness”.
He was a man of “incredible generosity”, a “quiet and constant supporter of local charities and good causes – the Adsum Foundation most of all”.
The charity, headquartered in Belfast, works on development and relief work in rural Madagascar.
John’s brother Gary said “I'm not going to mention the money involved” but added: "John and Karen financed, at huge cost, seven borewells – John would say ‘I bore well’ – seven bore wells throughout that country for clean water in Madagascar.”
In addition he provided “extensive funding towards literacy projects, financing multiple packs of books for Adsum's burgeoning libraries” as well as funnelling funds to Save the Children and UNICEF.
Gary also recalled John’s “wit and his humor,” saying: “Even on Saturday, the day before John died, and in great discomfort, John was still able to crack a joke.
"He insisted Karen take a photo of us both.
"He was conscious that he was severely jaundiced from his illness, and with John, I seemed quite brown.
"He didn't like the photo, the original photo, and asked for a second.
"He looked at it and joked: ‘Look at him, so tanned, and me: if I was in Ballycastle, I'd be sold as yellowman’.
"Not bad for an 85-year-old literally on his deathbed.”
His widow Karen is Jewish, and the funeral also featured a contribution in Hebrew.
John is survived by daughter Suzanne, son-in-law Henry, and grandson Simon.
Committal followed afterwards at Clandeboye Cemetery.