Stephen Potter (18 Nov 1955 - 14 Apr 2024)

Amazing husband to Jane and amazing father to Richard, Michael, Christine and Joseph

Awesome Grandfather to Will, Macy and Frankie

Steadfast and generous friend

Dedicated Rector to St. Michael and All Angels South Normanton

Stephen was born to Edith and Richard Potter on the 18th November 1955 in, Staines, Middlesex.

When Stephen was 3 months old, he moved with his parents and three older siblings, David, Carole and Denise to Stevenage. Here the family grew with the arrival of Barbara, Robert and Geoffrey.

Stephen joined the Air Cadets and through this organisation took part in the Duke of Edinburgh scheme. He achieved the Gold standard and had his day at Buckingham Palace. During the time spent with the Air Cadets Stephen made many trips to the Peak District where he camped and hiked. Derbyshire seemed to be calling even then. He had a genuine love for walking and exploring the more rugged areas of the UK particularly Derbyshire. A love which endured and which he passed on the Jane and his 4 children.

At the age of 18 Stephen left the family home to join the Royal Air Force, completing basic training at Waddington; and then being posted to Cyprus as an RAF policeman.

After three years Stephen left the RAF to join the Metropolitan Police Service and in June 1978 he began basic training at Hendon. On completion he was posted to Heathrow Police Station where he and Jane met in the police canteen.

Just to take a couple of steps back, Stephen and Jane married on the 6th September 1980. Following a short time living in Sunbury moved to live in Lansdowne Road, Staines where they lived for 12 years and where Richard, Michael, Christine and Joseph were born.

Stephen was recommended for training for Ordained Ministry with the Church of England, and in 1993 the family moved to Southgate London to live on campus of Oakhill Theological College. On the 6th September that year Stephen resigned from the Metropolitan Police after 15 years of service to begin training to become a Vicar.

In 1991 Stephen left Hendon to take up a sergeant’s post station in Chelsea working mostly in the custody suite. At this time Stephen had also been accepted to train for ordained ministry.

In 1995 Stephen took up a curacy in Holy Trinity Chesterfield and the family moved to Derbyshire. Stephen loved the Peak District having fond memories from his cadet days. The acquisition of a Boxer dog, Barney took Stephen walking far and wide; Derbyshire has been a blessing to not just Stephen but to the whole family.

The time at Holy Trinity was to prepare Stephen for future ministry and in due time he took up the post of Rector for St. Michael and All Angels in South Normanton. The family moved in November 1999 and Stephen was Installed on the 13th of December 1999.

It was through the services of weddings, Baptisms and funerals that Stephen really got to know the people of South Normanton. He would so often speak of the privilege it was, to be let into people’s lives at these significant times.

Stephen officiated at many funerals, sometimes more that 50 a year. He would often receive cards expressing gratitude and he would also speak of how much this aspect of ministry impacted on his life.

Weddings were another way in which Stephen was able to serve the community, each one being a time of joy for him to share in.

Stephen had the privilege of marrying Christine to Peter in 2013, where he walked her down the aisle doing a quick turnaround in the first song to conduct the service. And later, Joe to Tara in 2021.

The final Baptism Stephen conducted was for his granddaughter, Frankie and it was a grand day. Sadly, he was unable to participate in many services after that time although he did preach when he was able.

The next part of this Eulogy is said on behalf of Jane, Stephen’s wife.

Stephen my husband

I have loved Stephen from the very early days of our relationship which started in 1978. I told Stephen in the last days of his life that I would be ok because he had made me strong. And that’s true, Stephen was an enabler and many of you here will know that. He encouraged me throughout our lives together loving me and supporting me both in my spiritual life and in my professional life. We were a team.

We made four amazing children together and we have partnered in raising them into four awesome human beings. We have shared the joy of our three wonderful Grandchildren delighting in the generous and courageous spirit of Will and Macy as they go through their teen years. We have shared our hopes and dreams for our youngest granddaughter, Frankie who has been a delight to us both. Fortunately, we have a lot of photos of Frankie with her grandpa and maybe as she gets older Will and Macy, you can tell her about him.

Once our children had grown up, we found ourselves with the desire and opportunity to explore. In 2015 we drove across Europe to Italy, aiming to visit as many European countries as we could in one go. Stephen enabled me to fulfil a dream I had from my early teens which was to visit Vienna to see the Lipizzaner horses at the Spanish School of Riding.

Stephen’s sabbatical in 2018 was a particular joy. Four weeks visiting the sacred places in France with time and opportunity to visit a number of vineyards. It was a great time for us and we had many adventures. As we returned, I reflected that it had been so good I could have turned around and done it all again.

I have not the words to explain the joy it has been to have shared my life with Stephen. We jokingly said many times that we would celebrate our ninety-second birthday together; sadly, not the case. The TEAM no longer exists, and I cannot begin to say how much I miss him.