Terence was a loving and caring family man
The community of Kilmore is deeply saddened by the recent death of Terence (Terry) Lawton who passed away peacefully on July 11 at his home in Grange surrounded by his loving family.
Terence was diagnosed with an illness in February and since then was attentively cared for at home by his wife and children.
Born in Weafer Street, Enniscorthy, to Elizabeth (Lilly) and Frederick Lawton on August 30, 1947, Terence was the youngest of his siblings, Vera, Nuala, Maeve, Fred and Jim.
He attended the Christian Brothers Secondary School in Enniscorthy where he excelled in athletics. He won the Leinster cup in the long jump in 1964 and as a result of this great performance he was picked on the Irish Schools International Team where he won silver, jumping 6.84 metres.
On St. Stephen’s night in 1964 Terence met a young lady by the name of Kathleen Bates at the Castle Ballroom in Enniscorthy. Terence married Kathleen in St Mary’s Church, Kilmore, on June 4, 1969, which made them 48 years married this year.
The happily married couple moved to Dublin where they spent three and a half years before settling in Kilmore. This was an easy move for Terence as he always felt very much loved by Kathleen’s parents Murt and Mary Ellen and the Bates family.
Terence began his working life as a sales person for NCR cash registers in 1965 where he remained until 1972 when he took up a new sales job working for Rhofab Houses. He later went on to work as an insurance broker for National Mutual Life Assurances in the early 1980s, where he received the Best Inspector Award five years running.
For over two decades both Terence and Kathleen entertained as a musical duo playing in pubs and hotels throughout the southeast. Terence also played guitar, accompanying Kathleen singing at weddings, funerals and church venues. He was an accomplished acoustic guitarist and is thought to have pioneered the first digital guitar in the county during the early 1990s. He was also a fine teacher of guitar and gave many guitar lessons at Bridgetown Vocational College.
In latter years, he worked as a driver for Bus Éireann on the Expressway Dublin Route. More recently, he drove on Bus Éireann school routes around County Wexford where he was absolutely adored by the students. Each end of term and Christmas was a testament to this as he would arrive home laden with thoughtful and special gifts and cards from the students who boarded his bus. He knew each student by name. He loved his job, in part because of the students and in part because he simply loved driving. He was due to retire this August on his 70th birthday.
Terence had a great interest in vintage movies and even joined the vintage movie society in Dublin in the 1960s. He also had a phenomenal knowledge of music and knew so much about artists and every release in the music business. From constantly listening to radio he gleaned so much general knowledge that almost every year he would win some prize or other in quizzes hosted by local and national radio stations.
He had a love for cycling and would have been regularly spotted making the trip from Grange to Kilmore Quay and even beyond. He also loved walking the beaches of Kilmore with his dog. In fact he had such a love for the coastline that when he was offered a managerial position with a leading company in Athlone he declined the offer so that his family could spend their summers on the beaches around Kilmore, a personal sacrifice on his part that undoubtedly resulted in his childrens fond childhood memories.
Terence enjoyed many holidays abroad with Kathleen and they saw many wonderful places, the highlight of which for Terence was a winter holiday in the Canadian and American Rockies.
Terence was a very giving man, always putting others first. He literally would have given you the shirt off his back, as so many people have testified since Terence’s passing.
He was a committed and loving husband, dad and grandad. By the time his own children had grown up it was then time for him to spoil his six grandchildren. They now possess, like all who knew Terence, many cherished memories of a fun-loving gentleman.
During a conversation with Terence one could never leave without hearing his most recently heard joke, and having encountered his general good humour it was impossible not to leave his company feeling all the better for it.
Terence was a kind, gentle and beautiful soul, a true rarity to find in today’s world. He will be greatly missed by his loving wife Kathleen; three daughters Lynda, Sandra and Rachel; two sons Terry and David; daughter-in-law Adana; two sons-in-law Jonnie and Clem; grandchildren Sam, Ellen, Millie, Christian, Gracie and Zack, family, relatives and friends.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a Anam dílis.