Tributes are being paid to the Dean of Newport Cathedral who died this morning after a short illness. The Very Revd Jeremy Winston had been due to start treatment for a brain tumour yesterday.
Leading the tributes to Fr Jeremy, the Bishop of Monmouth, the Rt Revd Dominic Walker OGS, said:
“I am deeply saddened at the death of Father Jeremy Winston so soon after his installation as Dean of Newport Cathedral. Jeremy was a devoted priest and a man of vision and inspiration. His death is a great loss to the cathedral and the diocese. I give thanks to God for Jeremy and his friendship and ministry and offer my condolences to his family and his many friends who will feel deeply bereaved at their loss. Jeremy knew that he was seriously ill and faced the possibility of death with faith and confidence in the goodness of God. May he rest in peace.”
Fr Jeremy was installed as Dean in September this year. Revd Ray Hayter, who has been priest-in-charge of the Cathedral during Fr Jeremy’s illness, says:
“In the short time Fr Jeremy had been at the cathedral he fired it with a fresh vision for the future as a centre for learning and hospitality in both the church and the civic communities.”
Speaking on behalf of the congregation at St Mary’s, Abergavenny, where Fr Jeremy had been Vicar for the last 18 years, churchwarden Sir Trefor Morris, a close friend of Fr Jeremy’s, said:
“Fr Jeremy gave so much to Abergavenny, both to the church and to the local community. It is so sad for him as he had just been given a fantastic promotion to serve at Newport Cathedral. We are still getting over the shock of the news. He will surely be missed by everybody who knew him in Abergavenny and by all his new friends in Newport.”
Fr Mark Soady, who will succeed Fr Jeremy as Vicar of Abergavenny says:
“My thoughts and prayers go out to the people in Abergavenny and at the cathedral who are all feeling a deep sense of loss. Fr Jeremy was warm and hospitable and had the good of the town and city at the heart of his ministry.”
Born into an old Monmouthshire family in 1954, Jeremy Winston grew up in Griffithstown. He trained as a teacher at Trinity College, Camarthen. He then went to theological college at St Stephen’s House, Oxford, and was ordained in 1979. He served as Curate in Basseleg before becoming Vicar of St Arvan’s in 1983. In 1993 he moved to become Vicar of St Mary’s, Abergavenny, and in 2002 took on the wider responsibility of Area Dean for all the parishes in the Abergavenny area.
Under Canon Winston’s leadership, the church developed close links with the town of Abergavenny and its wider community. St Mary’s church building underwent major restoration including the development of the Priory Centre and the neighbouring Tithe Barn.
From 1979-1989 Canon Winston was the Diocesan Children’s Adviser and, until 2007, was a Bishop’s Visitor to church schools in the diocese. He was installed as a Canon of the Cathedral in 2002 and had been a member of the Governing Body of the Church in Wales since 1982.
Unmarried himself, Fr Jeremy was a beloved brother and uncle.
