Tribute to cleric with flair for fund-raising; Award-winning former Coventry archdeacon dies at age of 93.
Byline: LUCY WILSONA FORMER archdeacon of Coventry, the Venerable Eric Ancrum Buchan, has died, aged 93.
He died at the College of St Barnabas in Lingfield, Surrey, on April 27, of natural causes.
The Ven Buchan was born at Clifton, near Bristol, and educated at Bristol Grammar School and St Chad's College, Durham.
He served as a curate in Bristol then as a Royal Air Force chaplain during the Second World War. His first post in the Coventry diocese was immediately after the war as vicar of St Mark's, in Stoney Stanton Road, Bell Green, Coventry.
He became Rector of Baginton in 1961 and archdeacon of Coventry in 1965, a post he held until retiring in 1977.
The Ven Buchan carried out a number of other roles in the diocese during his time in the city, including domestic chaplain to the bishop, Canon of Coventry Cathedral, chaplain of Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital and Rural Dean of Coventry.
He also served as chairman of the diocesan board of finance, secretary of the diocese layman's appeal and was a church commissioner.
He had a gift for fund-raising and was awarded the silver acorn for his services to the scout movement.
The Ven Buchan moved to Gloucester upon his retirement. In 1996, he moved to the College of St Barnabas, a retirement home for Anglican clergy.
Diocesan communications officer the Rev Lawrence Mortimer said: "He had an extraordinary flair for dealing with the business side of things. The diocese of Coventry is in a far better financial state than many other dioceses because of his work.
"He used to train curates and was very inspiring to young clergy.
"He was held in enormous affection by everybody."
His funeral will be held at the chapel of the College of St Barnabas, in Blackberry Lane, Lingfield, Surrey, next Wednesday at 11.30am, followed by cremation at the Surrey and Sussex Crematorium in Worth.
CAPTION(S):
GIFTED: Eric Buchan, pictured in 1961, the year he became Rector of Baginton
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| Publication: | Coventry Evening Telegraph (England) |
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| Date: | May 3, 2001 |
| Words: | 334 |
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