Peter was born on 24th February 1964 in Pretoria, the youngest of two sons for Pat and Elton,
He spent his early years in Benoni.
After leaving school Peter was conscripted to the army for his national service, where he served in Cape Town
at the anti-aircraft school. Soon he was nicknamed “Radar Love”; and equally quickly, he fell in love with Cape Town.
After leaving the army, he worked briefly as a debt-collector.
After which he took a position with the Old Mutual Assurance Company. This was to have a lasting impact
on his life because, on a hiking weekend, he met a dashing young lady called Riette. Although they both
worked for Old Mutual, they had not met until that weekend - but the rest, as they say is history. Riette and Peter
were married; and they were blessed with two wonderful children, Lauren and Dylan.
After working in consultancy in South Africa, 8 years ago, whilst they were expecting Dylan, Peter
and Riette took the momentous decision to come to the UK, where Peter worked in the telecoms industry,
first for Intec, and then taking the plunge and going into business with Derek.
Peter loved his work; the more challenging, the better - and Peter always loved a good challenge. But important
as work was to him, there were more important things in Peter’s life.
The first was sport. From a young boy Peter loved the outdoors and sport in particularly - whether it was walking,
running (and later on marathon running), playing squash, rugby, cricket, swimming and especially cycling. In fact,
when cycle-training, Dad would always help him. Peter would ride his bike, Elton the motorbike! And in fact,
Peter’s last bike-ride was with the whole family doing the Woking Bike-athon in May.
Peter’s love of cycling was also to have a lasting effect for his fellow cancer sufferers, for in July 2005, a sponsored
cycle ride took place, which Peter had planned and hoped himself to cycle in, from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
Convincing Standard Life to sponsor the project, and led off on the epic journey by Lauren and Dylan, 8 cyclists and
5 support crew set off on their journey. To date, an amazing $80,000 has been raised to support the Guest Cancer
Research Fund. And still the money is coming in.
On the 15th October, Riette, Lauren and Dylan will participate in a yearly walk for Gist patients and carers in New York.
This year's walk is in honour of Peter, and the children will hand over the money that has been collected to date.
Peter loved sport; but more than sport, he loved his family and his friends. Dad was always a hero to Peter. And as a
Daddy himself, Peter loved his own two beloved children, Lauren and Dylan. He loved the way they both loved and cared
for him, wrote him poems, looked after him when he wasn’t feeling well. He loved you so much. And that love of people warmed
others to him. When Riette and Peter were married, Riette’s parents welcomed Peter as a son.
Another hall-mark of Peter was his sense fun and humour. He always managed to see the funny side of life. Even in the
hospice his (sometimes wicked) sense of humour raised itself. Elton mistakenly called his nurse Clare Crystal. To which
Peter asked his dad, “Is it Clare or Crystal Clare!” He even spent time testing two new nurses he hadn’t met before,
to see if they were properly up to the job.
Equally central to Peter’s life was his Christian faith. Raised a Methodist, confirmed in Banony Methodist Church,
and latterly, of course, a member of the church family in Knaphill, Peter’s love for God was always central to his life.
Perhaps the strength of his faith was never more evident than in how Peter wrestled with his cancer. Though he came
to realise that death would probably be the end result, his faith in Jesus Christ did not waiver. On Monday when I met
Peter for the first time in the hospice and he was very poorly, I said a prayer with Peter, and immediately after, Peter
said a prayer too.
In conversations with Nick in recent months, it was clear that he knew the God whom he loved, and
he knew that one day, His Lord would welcome him to his side.
I did not have the privilege of knowing Peter for very long, but what was immediately obvious was that Peter was a man
of immense courage and determination.
When Peter became ill he was determined that life should continue as normal as possible.
When the outcome became grave, he still wanted to help others by organising the sponsored bike ride.
It seems to me, that when Elton and Pat chose Peter’s name, they chose very wisely. They chose a man who was a rock.
A rock of faith, courage, determination.
I think that Peter would want to echo Jesus’ words: to offer us a message of peace, peace in the firm belief that for Peter,
all his pain and suffering is now over, and that he is happy, complete, an at peace once more - and very likely exploring the
kingdom of heaven - by bike - as we speak!
Peter is with His Lord Jesus, whom he loved; he is at home in His Father’s house. And
one day we will meet again.
So, we celebrate Peter’s life, life that will never be the same again, because
we have been privileged to know and love Peter. So thank you, Lord for Peter, our beloved son, brother, husband, daddy,
uncle and friend. May he rest in peace, and rise in the glory of God. Amen.
Revd David Hinchliffe
Peter was never a man to sidestep the big issues of life.
He enjoyed the honesty of a no holds barred debate and he
wrestled with the issue of why he had contracted this illness so young. Most importantly he realised that he was
in God’s capable hands and so even though the answers were not to hand he accepted his fait with good grace
and a love of his Lord and maker.
Lauren and Dylan have always been important to Peter – they had always had his time and in that there is a lesson
to those of us who spend too much time in the office.
Riette remembers some words which some up their life over the last five years
“Have you been somewhere different this year”?
For the family adventure holidays became more exciting with different experiences tried and enjoyed to the full.
Each a new experience, each a treasured memory, each an expression of Peters passion for
life and a demonstration of his love for his family. Of course for Peter equally important was the giving of himself to
his family and to others. He wanted to encourage others to step out of their comfort zone and try new things.
In the final weeks of his life he took great pleasure in seeing Wayne undertake the bike ride from Lands End to
John O Groats that he couldn’t do. He was very proud of his brother and although not something Wayne would
normally have volunteered for the ride is something he will treasure. He was equally proud of his children whenever
they attempted something new and his life was spent encouraging them to take new risks to see life and to enjoy it
to the full. His wish I’m sure would be for all of us to live life to the full.
His care for the family is clear – many of us will have been struck by his care for us his generosity of spirit. I will never
forget sitting in the hospice and each time I visited he would ask “how are you” – not out of courtesy or duty but because
he genuinely cared.
Peter knew the eternity which God sets in our hearts and as God’s child he had a certainty of faith. So we can trust
in God that Peter is now with God in heaven. That for Peter the eternity that God set in his heart is now fulfilled within
the eternity of Gods Kingdom.
His inspiration left to us all is to understand how to use our time, our toil and the gifts of God in the best possible way to
give glory to others and in so doing to give glory to God.
Rev Nick Oborski
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