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Obituary
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Christopher Norman C Tubbs
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26/04/2010
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REVD CHRISTOPHER NORMAN TUBBS 21 November 1925 - 18 April 2010
Chris was born in Tinnevelly, South India, where his father Norman Tubbs was Bishop and his mother Norah also a trained missionary. Chris was the third of four children, all born overseas in the days of Mission and Empire. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Burma, where Norman had been appointed Bishop of Rangoon, and Chris' earliest memories were of happy, sunny days in the care of a beloved Ayah and devoted household staff, while his parents undertook their duties for the Church Missionary Society.
At the age of seven, this easygoing life came to an abrupt end, when Chris, following his older brothers Lionel and Peter, was sent back to England in 1932 by long sea, in the charge of strangers, to attend boarding school and spend his holidays with a series of elderly relatives. This was the custom of the time. Chris attended St Christopher's, Great Missenden and then Cordewallis, before following family tradition and attending Repton School from 1938.
In 1936 Chris' parents reluctantly returned from Burma to provide a family home in Chester, where Norman was appointed Dean and Assistant Bishop. Chris was to enjoy only a few holidays from Repton at home in The Close at Chester, before World War Two intervened, and he was evacuated with his (younger) sister Barbara to Canada, where he attended Ridley College (St Catherine's, Ontario).
Chris graduated from Ridley College in 1944, returned to Britain briefly for military training and joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers who arrived in India early in 1945. Chris was on his way to the Burma front (where the life expectancy of an officer was 4 days, as the Japanese fought a bitter, slow retreat through South East Asia). Chris survived because of the sudden Japanese surrender, following the dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and he decided to remain in India, seconded to the Dogra Regiment and posted to the North West Frontier in the lead-up to Indian independence and partition in the Punjab, where he worked happily with Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus.
In 1951, Chris left the Indian Army and resumed his education, reading Theology at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he also found time to develop his sporting skills, playing cricket, tennis and squash, and captaining the University ice hockey team. After completing his MA at Cambridge, Chris went on to Wycliffe Hall Theological College, Oxford (where he also played for the University ice hockey team, unusually earning a "blue" from both universities).
Chris was ordained by his father at Chester Cathedral in 1952 and took his first curacy at St Mary's & St Helen's Church, Neston in the Wirral, and it was here that he met Anne Cornelius, whom he married, again in Chester Cathedral, in 1954. Chris and Anne moved to Norwich in 1955, where Chris served his second curacy at St Peter Mancroft's Church and as Chaplain to the 4th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment Territorials. Anne supplemented the family budget as a theatrical landlady, and their first two children were born in Norwich - Anthony John and Elizabeth Jane (who died in early infancy).
In 1959, Chris, Anne and Anthony moved to North Yorkshire, where Chris was Vicar of Scalby for 35 years, until his retirement in 1995. Two more sons were born, Timothy James and Nicholas Peter. In 1968, Scalby became a United Benefice with the addition of the parishes of St John's Staintondale and St Hilda's Ravenscar. From 1976 until 1982 Chris served additionally as Rural Dean for the Scarborough Deanery. In 1985 he was appointed a Canon of York Minster.
Chris's ministry through the 35 years at Scalby is well-remembered. His early innovations included the introduction of a family service, a strengthened church choir and Sunday School, and a vigorous commitment to planned giving through Christian Stewardship campaigns. Chris also advocated firmly for the Mothers' Union, Church of England Mens' Society and for an engagement with Missions Overseas, reflecting his early family experience and parental example.
Outside of his manifold Church activities, Chris became a well-known local figure. He was active in the formation of Scalby Village Trust, in all community and civic affairs, a committed Rotarian (and President of Scarborough's Rotary Club), a keen supporter of international links, including the twinning of Scarborough with Recklinghausen (Germany) and Scalby with Pornic (France). Chris was an active supporter of the Conservative Association and the Scarborough Civic Society, attending events until the end of his life. In retirement, Chris also worked as a volunteer for Scarborough Lifeboat centre, and supported many charities including Sightsavers, NSPCC and St Catherine's Hospice.
Chris retained his Territorial Army connection, as Chaplain to the Green Howards, and in later life took great pleasure in returning to Canada (where he followed and supported Ridley College) and India, where he twice attended Dogra Regiment reunions. Chris continued his sporting interests, following and supporting Scarborough Cricket Club enthusiastically. He was also a keen horseman, notably inaugurating an annual outdoor Horseman's Service at Scalby, where he kept ponies and hunters, rode to hounds and followed the fortunes of the local hunts and field sports societies. Scalby Vicarage was usually home to a selection of livestock - hens, sheep, ponies - and notoriously the goats Chris introduced to keep the grass down between the headstones in the churchyard.
In 1995, Chris retired, and moved with Anne to West Ayton, where he continued active for many years, assisting with services and later a regular member of the congregation at St Helen's Wykeham. In Summer 2007, Chris suffered two heart attacks, and his health began a steady deterioration, as his formerly active life became increasingly unsustainable. On Sunday 18 April, he quietly slipped away in his sleep.
Chris is survived by his wife, Anne, older brother Peter, younger sister Barbara, his three sons, Anthony, Timothy and Nicholas, and Anthony's three children, Henry, Alexandra and Georgina.
Funeral at St Helen's and All Saints', Wykeham 12 noon Monday 26 April 2010. No flowers by request. Donations to St Helen's Wykeham or c/o F & A Stockill & Son, Snainton.
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