Tribute for minister who died at age 57
THE life and ministry of a cleric from Northern Ireland who died suddenly will be remembered this weekend.
The Rev Trevor Patterson (57) passed away on October 10 after he suffered a heart attack while out running.
Originally from Lisburn, he was vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Richmond, south-west London. He was cremated on Saturday and a thanksgiving service was held at St Stephen’s Church at East Twickenham yesterday.
A service of thanksgiving will be held in his native Lisburn at Railway Street Presbyterian Church on Saturday at 3pm.
Trevor was the second of three children born to Harold and Meta Patterson in 1960. The family attended Railway Street
Church. Educated at Friends’ School in Lisburn, the young Trevor was often found working during school holidays at Smyth Patterson Ltd, founded by his grandfather in 1936.
He graduated with a degree in music from Queen’s University in 1982, then attended Stranmillis College where he qualified as a teacher, going on to take up posts at Killicomaine Junior High School and Knockbreda High School.
He met his wife Kate Peppiatt during a two-year spell with the Church Mission Society in Nairobi, Kenya. They married in 1991 and had three sons — Johnny, Connor and Ben.
Trevor and Kate studied theology together at Trinity Bristol and Trevor then served as a Curate in Ashtead in Surrey.
In the spring of 1997 he was instituted as Vicar of Holy Trinity in Richmond where he was also appointed Area Dean.
A much-loved pastor, he was delighted when, in 2009, Holy Trinity subsumed a church in Barnes that was about to close.
He helped found two charities that work with vulnerable families and refugees, and also supported the work of Karis Kids charity for orphans and made several mission trips to Kampala.