Nurse, health visitor and leading figure in Glasgow's Jesuit community
Born: January, 1941;
Died: April 4, 2018
JAMES Spence, who has died aged 77, was a leading member of the Jesuit community in Glasgow and a former governor of St Aloysius' College in the city. He also worked as a health visitor in the East End of Glasgow and was a former Children's Panel chair.
He was born the son of Thomas and Mary Spence on the London Road in Glasgow and was educated at St Mary's Junior Secondary School in Calton.
Having worked for three years as a tailor and a grocer, he decided to join the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in July 1960 as a Brother; the Brothers help the Jesuit priests in their ministry. James, usually called Jim, did his novitiate training for two years in England and then returned to Glasgow, where several young Brothers were learning trades. Jim trained as SRN at Stobhill hospital; he then went to Oxford to study psychiatric and geriatric nursing at Cowley and Littlemore hospitals.
He spent a couple of years nursing old Jesuits in north Wales and then returned to Scotland to join the St Aloysius Community which served the parish and the college. He entered the NHS as a health visitor in the East End of Glasgow. He progressed into various managerial posts and was president of the Glasgow branch of the Scottish Health Visitors. In addition to his nursing skills, Jim as a manager had an ability to see clearly a problem and a way to solve it without upsetting conflicting parties. At this time, he was on the board of management and development at St Margaret's Hospice in Clydebank.
In 1993 Jim opened a House of Hospitality in Kilwinning where families or individuals in need of respite could go but sustaining the work proved difficult. In 1998 he gained a BSc in health studies at Paisley University. In 1999, he was asked by Jesuit superiors to open a house in Pollokshields for elderly and retired Scottish Jesuits. Jim had an empty building which he set up as a real home with no traces of an institution. It was at this time that the First Minister of the Scottish Executive approved and appointed him as a member of a Children's Panel, which he later chaired.
A few years later Jim had some sabbatical time which he spent in California and Dublin: he pursued the study of spirituality. On his return to Scotland, he spent some time in Edinburgh assisting in the Laurieston Jesuit Centre and guiding people in prayer.
Then it was back to Glasgow and the establishment of the new St Aloysius Residence which was to house Jesuits from three separate establishments in the city. The new residence is above the Ignatian Spirituality Centre which occupies the ground floor. Jim became the centre manager and continued his work in the prayer field and assisting in the parish.
A spell of ice and snow then dictated his future. Jim slipped on ice and dislocated both his knees. Recovery was slow but he returned to work in the centre. Suddenly, one evening he found the feeling had gone below his waist. He was taken to the Southern General. The top vertebra from his spine was removed and his general condition was poor.
In the next eight months, visitors were given a wonderful example of a man coping with much pain and discomfort over an extensive period. Finally, Jim was discharged from the spinal unit in a wheelchair with little prospect of walking again. He went to convalesce at St Joseph's care home in Robroyston. After some weeks he walked out - sheer determination and perhaps the prayers of the Little Sisters won the day.
His last years found Jim very much the same contributor to community life at St Aloysius. He had the title Guestmaster. Over the years he had always been so welcoming to guests, especially foreign Jesuits. Proud to be a Glaswegian, he always wanted to share something of Glasgow with visitors.
Outside the house, he was appointed a governor of St Aloysius' College. He put a lot of work in to the job for modern governors have plenty to discuss, to decide and to put into action. His skills as an interviewer were much appreciated: he would ask probing questions "but he was so gentle" an interviewee said.
What was it that made Jim so attractive to so many? He was a big man, tall and erect. He had a ready smile and a friendly word: he had indeed a certain presence. He was interested in people of any kind and there was always the readiness to help others, although he did not press himself on others. A good example was his medical knowledge: he only shared it with you in answer to a question. (His capacity for absorbing medical knowledge was amazing). His knowledge of Gaelic, which began 40 years ago on his first of many visits to Barra, enabled him to converse in it.
Jim's funeral mass at St Aloysius, Garnethill, saw all elements of his life and work represented. And there was a strong sense that everybody was there not as a duty but as an expression of love and respect for a man who had answered God's call to serve others.
PETER GRANGER BANYARD
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