Obituary: Rev Dr H. Dane Sherrard
The Rev Dr Henry Dane Sherrard – known to all throughout his life as Dane – was born on 13 March 1946 in a nursing home in Watford next door to the football club he would support all of his life. His parents, John and Mary, were living in Tufnell Park (London) at the time, both having recently been demobbed after World War Two during which they met whilst working on the Enigma decoding project.
In Dane’s early childhood the family seemed to be constantly on the move (John worked for the estate department of the railway) moving from London to Pudsey in Yorkshire and then to Crewe, all before the age of two. In Crewe his sister was born but the now family of four were not yet settled and moved to Dundee in 1949 to allow John to take up a job with NCR. Here Dane began his schooling attending Clepington Primary School for one year before the family found a lovely home in Panmure Street, Broughty Ferry.
For the next few years, the family enjoyed a fairly settled time and the family was complete with the birth of Dane’s younger brother in 1954. After a brief spell at East Primary School in Broughty Ferry, Dane was accepted as a pupil by Dundee High School where he spent the rest of his school days.
Meanwhile John had become a mature student reading Divinity and in 1960 was ordained as parish minister in Newtyle – the family were on the move again. It was during his young teens in Newtyle that Dane’s organizational and leadership skills were first noticed. He set up and ran a very active Youth Club in the underused Church Hall – dances, badminton, drama, music were all on the programme and Dane started an annual road race from Camperdown Park on the outskirts of Dundee to Newtyle where runners were welcomed with supper, a hot bath, and a celebratory “hop”.
Dane himself felt the call to become a minister and attended St Andrews University in the mid-sixties where he met and fell in love with Rachel who was to become his much-loved wife and life-long partner. He was the president of the Students Representative Council and successfully campaigned to overturn a ban on cars for students and to express opposition to Apartheid. Rachel echoed his can-do spirit and together they set up a theatre group, staging Shakespeare plays over the summer in the Castle.
Dane’s education was completed with a post-grad spell at New College in Edinburgh and he was then sent as assistant minister to Abronhill in the then new town of Cumbernauld. His apprenticeship complete he expected to be applying for parishes in Scotland but instead found himself sent to Genoa to minister through the offices of the Sailors’ Rest to mariners of all nations who called into the port. Here again his organizational skills were called into action as he restored the lovely chapel and ran a busy thriving centre for mariners far from home.
Returning from this adventure (1971-1976) Dane was called to the Parish of Buckhaven in Fife. There he found much to do – creating a theatre out of disused Church Halls and setting up an agency to train the unemployed and help them back into work. Many a young – and not-so-young – inhabitant of Fife during the early eighties found their lives enriched by all the hard work of Dane, Rachel and their team during this time that was so hard for so many.
When the Government funding of such schemes came to an end Dane and Rachel set off again – this time to Cadder where he served for 5 years. During this time Dane was offered the opportunity to study for a doctorate through Princeton University. He grasped this opportunity to exercise his more contemplative side and his thesis on baptism earned him a PhD from that prestigious institution.
The construction of the bridge was carried out by the Army and the personnel involved became familiar faces in the Church. The soldiers had just returned from Afghanistan and those still serving out at Camp Bastion were receiving services streamed from Luss and benefiting from seeing their families in Church. Dane had learned a skill which was to serve him well during the pandemic that was to come – he had installed streaming equipment in the Church and his services were broadcast not only to the troops abroad but also to a wider congregation throughout the English-speaking world.
Dane finally retired in 2013 and moved to Mount Pleasant near Duns in order to help his sister look after their mother, now in her nineties. Dane was a passionate follower of English Cricket – in particular Durham Cricket Club of which he was a member for 30 years. Now he could attend there more often. He could also have a go at improving his golf. However, God had other plans for Dane’s retirement.
Finding that the beautiful historic Church at Fogo was in danger of being closed and left to give in to the ravages of damp, Dane embarked on his final crusade. Anyone visiting Fogo Church today will meet a wonderfully warm congregation welcoming them into a warm comfortable well-maintained Church where Christians of all denominations worship together. They will witness the results of this can-do man’s determination that what is needed must be provided and share in the wide warm loving living legacy of this remarkable man.
There will be a Service of Celebration of the life of the Rev Dane Sherrard, minister at the Sailor’s Rest, Genoa, Italy, 1971-6, Buckhaven Parish Church, 1976-94, Cadder Parish Church, Glasgow, 1994-8, Luss and Arrochar Parish Churches, 1998-2013 and recently of Fogo Parish Church in Berwickshire, on 22 June at St Andrew’s Church, Wallace Green, Berwick-upon-Tweed at 3.30pm. All friends and colleagues most welcome.