A HIGHLY-RESPECTED member of Brentwood's Roman Catholic community has died after 53 years of dedication to the faith.
Jerry Mahon, 83, who has been described by his family as a "very friendly", "extremely kind" and a "staunchly Catholic" Irishman, was a sidesman at Holy Cross and All Saints Church in Warley Hill for 40 years.
But despite his passion for the religion, he was never overt with his beliefs.
His involvement with the Catholic community in Brentwood goes back to 1960, when he first moved to his Avenue Road home, 12 years after moving to the UK from County Kerry.
Mr Mahon, a father of six, was also a great family man with a strong sense of Irish tradition.
His only son, Sean, explained how patriotism and faith were at the centre of his father's being.
"My father was a very devout Roman Catholic and when he came here because of work in 1948, he joined the Legion of Mary in London whose purpose was to visit people in hospital and give them religious support.
"One of the other things they did was take a statue of Our Lady to dance halls around London and that was where he met my mother, Noreen, who was working in London as a nurse."
It transpired that his future wife was also from Kerry and they married in 1953.
Noreen died last year at the age of 84.
Father Martin Boland, the parish priest of Holy Cross and All Saints, paid tribute to Mr Mahon for his years of devotion.
He said: "He was one of those faithful members of the community at Holy Cross.
"He was very involved in the community here and a much-liked man.
"It's so very sad to hear of his death and we shall be celebrating his funeral mass and I am sure there will be many, many people there to thank God for his life and for all he did for the community at Holy Cross."
Mr Mahon, who was born on February 14, 1929, could decipher Morse code and worked as a telex operator, latterly for ITT World Communications Inc, until his retirement in 1994.
Sean said his dad was an "integral" part of Brentwood's Irish and Catholic scene who knew everyone.
He said: ""He supported me in every way.
"I'm now 53 and in all the time I've known him he has never told a lie or done anything wrong – he was almost saintly in that respect.
"We would be hard pressed to find anyone in Brentwood who would have a bad word to say about him."
He added: "He was very friendly, anyone would tell you that he was extremely kind and he had a fantastic sense of humour to the point where after going through his things we found little notes, poems and jokes he left to us about being dead.
"His sense of humour was a huge part of who he was.
"I think he's a great loss to his grandchildren and was kind of the go-to guy in the family.
"He was a great centre for all of us."
Mr Mahon, who had been living in Warley Mount since 2003, died at Chelmsford Nursing Home on February 8 from a neuroendocrine tumour.
He leaves behind his children Teresa, 59, Anne, 55, Mary, 55, Sean, 53, Bernadette, 51, Helen, 46, and 12 grandchildren.
The funeral mass will take place at Holy Cross and All Saints Church, Warley, today (February 27) at 11am followed by burial in Woodman Road cemetery, Brentwood.
Flowers or donations, if preferred, to Cancer Research UK may be sent c/o Bennetts Funeral Directors, 120 High Street, Brentwood, CM14 4AS.
