Reverend Father Lawrence Lister, from Heaton, was a Catholic priest for 60 years, serving nine parishes. His first Mass was at St Patrick’s Church in Bradford, where he had been baptised and confirmed as a boy.
Fr Lister’s brother, Derek Lister, paid this tribute to him: “There will be many Bradford people, both friends and parishioners, who will be saddened by the recent passing of Fr Lawrence, late of the local parishes of St Theresa’s Queensbury (1974-78) and St Cuthbert’s Heaton (1999-2006). “Fr Lawrence was born in Heaton on June 2, 1932. He attended St Patrick’s School before joining St Cuthbert’s College, Ushaw, aged 13. He progressed to the senior seminary at Ushaw and was ordained at St Anne’s Cathedral in Leeds on July 19, 1959 by Bishop George Patrick Dwyer. His first parish, in 1959, was as a curate at St Mary’s Church in Halifax, which was his final parish when he retired in 2006. “Fr Lawrence retired from the ministry when moving to Halifax to take up residence St Albans Presbytery. In all, over the years he had served nine parishes in the Leeds Diocese. He marked both the golden and diamond jubilees of his ordination, the latter in August 2019 by a Mass at St Mary’s Church, Halifax. In October 2019 he celebrated at the Mass for the re-opening of St Patrick’s Church in Bradford. This was an occasion which brought back fond memories, as it was where he was baptised and confirmed, and where he said his first Mass following his ordination in 1959. “Fr Lawrence was a much loved and respected priest and a loyal servant of the Bishops and lay faithful of the Diocese of Leeds for over 60 years. News of his death will be of great sadness to his brother priests and former parishioners, and his life will be remembered with affection.”
Mr Lister recalled a wartime Bradford childhood with his brother: “We were in air raid shelters together and I remember him running down a passage near our house shouting that the Japanese had surrendered. Once we went to the Tatler cinema on Thornton Road in the afternoon and that night it burnt down, we could see the sky lit up. Lawrence jokingly blamed me! “He had a paper round and I used to help him, but he ‘sacked’ me when I put papers in the wrong letter boxes. We were close, but I was only seven when he went away to college and I didn’t see much of him then. He was a Bradford City fan and he played football and cricket at college. He was a lovely brother and priest.” He added: “”Many of his former parishioners will have known Millie, his devoted housekeeper for nearly 50 years, and would like to know that she is well and residing in a nursing home in Halifax.”
Fr Lawrence leaves his brother Derek, nephew Alex and niece Angelique. His funeral, at St Mary’s Church, Halifax, was officiated by Archbishop John Wilson, who had been there for them after his brother demise and trained with him.
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