Michael Hemsley (14 Mar 1936 - 13 Dec 2022)

In loving memory of Michael Hemsley who sadly passed away on 13th December 2022
John Michael (Mike) Hemsley was born on 14th March 1936 in Ripon, Yorkshire, and was proud to be a Yorkshireman; his father was John William and his mother Phyllis; he was the eldest of four brothers and a sister. He was Head Chorister at Ripon Cathedral before embarking on training as a Priest in 1952 at The House of the Sacred Mission in Kelham. As an aside he was trained in barbering and became adept at providing haircuts for the other brothers; he continued practicing this art with an upturned basin bowl on his future sons. National Service intervened and although he could have received an opt-out he willingly joined up and spent many happy times in Monchengladbach in Germany, training as a morse code operator and extending his sporting prowess to include boxing and athletics. After National Service, he felt continuing his training to ordination was not the appropriate path for him at that time and began his career as a structural engineer. However, his strong Christian faith only grew stronger throughout his life. On the 7th December 1957, he married Nora Spence in Ripon cathedral. They had two children, Paul and Mark, both born in Nottingham where they now lived. He decided to move to Ireland in 1968 but with the troubles ongoing he decided not to relocate his family and moved to Chudleigh in Devon. In 1987 Mike and Nora made the move to Taunton. Holy Trinity became an important part of both their lives with Mike supporting the Church as a lay reader, a member of the choir and the PCC. After Nora died in 2017, shortly before their 60th wedding anniversary, he moved into a retirement flat in Tower Street where he continued to live happily and independently for a number of years.
Mike enjoyed many different pastimes ranging from camping, photography and cricket in his earlier years, to sailing, bowls, ballroom dancing and golf later. His passion for fly-fishing and water colour painting extended from his childhood throughout his life Some of these are continued by his sons and grandchildren to varying degrees of success! He continued to surprise his family, only revealing a few years ago his lunch time meetings with an author called Agatha Christie in the local pub in Devon!
After a fall in 2022 he spent a number of months in hospital before being transferred to a rehabilitation home in Glastonbury. He died peacefully on 13th December 2022, at the age of 86. He leaves behind two sons, a daughter in law, three grandchildren, a brother and a sister in law. He will be truly missed.