A MEMORIAL service for the beloved assistant archdeacon of Winchester Cathedral after his unexpected death, aged 67.

Canon Gary Philbrick was remembered with music, liturgy and prayer as around 1,000 people filled the cathedral on Thursday, August 8.

People travelled from all over the diocese and beyond to attend the service, with the service planned by Gary himself.

Gary’s son, the Reverend Craig Philbrick, offered a moving reflection on his father’s life, describing a man loved by so many who “radiated the light of Christ”.

READ MORE: Winchester Cathedral canon Gary Philbrick dies after illness

The service for Gary Philbrick (Image: Winchester Cathedral)

Craig said: "Dad radiated the light of Christ: he was gentle, humble and generous to all. Everyone who met him would say he was genuinely one of life’s loveliest people. He gave of himself to others, and, regardless of what he was in the middle of doing, he always made you feel as if in that moment you were the only one who mattered, whether you were a pilgrim requesting a blessing at the end of your journey to Winchester Cathedral, or someone living on the street."

Bishop Philip Mountstephen gave a sermon on Gary’s many Barnabas-like qualities – “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, through whom good things happened".

Born in Cheshire, Gary came to Southampton in 1975 to read music at Southampton University. He then became the organist of Otterbourne, near Winchester, moved into the village whilst doing a PGCE at King Alfred’s College and then taught in the primary school there.

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In the mid 1980s, Gary went to Edinburgh for ordination training at Coates Hall Theological College, whilst also studying for a BA at Edinburgh University. Following this, Gary returned to Southampton University and completed a part-time MA in Theology in 1999.

Ordained in 1986, Gary served in the Parishes of Maybush in Southampton, Fawley, on the eastern edge of the New Forest, and from 2000-2013, Swaythling, on the northern edge of Southampton.

He was Area Dean of Southampton from 2007–2013, and an Honorary Canon of Winchester Cathedral since 2009. From 2013, Gary served as Rector of the Avon Valley Churches, which comprises seven churches in one parish on the western edge of the New Forest.