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Simple, Spiritual, and Supportive: Br Tim Leen's Eulogy for Br Sam Eathorne

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On 9 January, Br Samuel Eathorne, FMS, passed away in Auckland, Aotearoa-New Zealand. Below is the eulogy Br Tim Leen gave at Br Sam's funeral.


We gather today to give thanks for the life of a “marvelous Marist companion.” A gentle giant known as both Brother Gilbert Mary and Brother Sam Eathorne. A popular Christian saying attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi encourages us to “preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” Sam, these words are a summary of your long life as a loved member of the Eathorne clan and the Marist family and as a summary of your many years of missionary endeavor.

 

Sam was born on the 25th of January 1933. The eldest child of Hilda and Jack who were married in 1932. Sam’s other siblings (John, Bob and Mary) are with us today and we thank them for their love and support of Sam over his lifetime. I also wish to acknowledge the presence with us of Sam’s nephews Glen and Tim and their children Callum and Eva who are also with us today. We also remember Sam’s other family members who cannot be with us.

 

Br Sam was presented with a Marist shirt at a memorable MBHS gathering (his last) at Marcellin College. With Br Tim.
Br Sam was presented with a Marist shirt at a memorable MBHS gathering (his last) at Marcellin College. With Br Tim.

 Sam left home for Tuakau to begin his Marist journey on his 13th birthday and never looked back. He was a ‘coaster’ all his life and loved returning to his place of birth where his first thirteen formative years were held. Sam and his brothers and sister were all born in Greymouth on the West Coast. It was a place that Sam loved very much! Every holiday when he went home, there was always a visit to his hometown to spend a few days. His first visit was always to the cemetery where his mother rested and his maternal grandmother, grandfather, aunts, uncles and other family members. He loved walking along what is called, the “Cobden Tip,” which was built with many large rocks and went along to the entrance of the Bar where fishing vessels entered Greymouth harbour. Sam loved Cobden, the place where he had the most memories. He would always check on the house where he used to live before the family moved over to Greymouth, which was just over the Cobden bridge. He would walk for miles around Cobden, checking on houses where friends used to live and along the beach and streets. Sam had a favourite expression that reminded him of his formative educational institute, the C B U, which stood for the Cobden Bush University!


"His first visit was always to the cemetery where his mother rested and his maternal grandmother, grandfather, aunts, uncles and other family members."

 

John Eathorne, Br Sam’s brother
John Eathorne, Br Sam’s brother

 

Nelson Mandela once said that “what counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we have led.” Sam, you have impacted the life of so many people in ways you never realized. Your brothers, sister, nephews and niece along with your Brothers’ in community and on mission, the multitude of young people in Fiji who would greet you on the streets of Suva and the band of loyal Marist Old Boys in Fiji who held you in high esteem and raised you up as the patron of their association. A little boy from Cobden who spread his love over many borders and to many cultures. 


"A little boy from Cobden who spread his love over many borders and to many cultures." 

 

Reflecting on Sam’s life over the last few days, three words kept coming back to me that described this wonderful man. Simple, Spiritual and Supportive.


Mary (Sam’s Sister) receiving the kava. Bob (Sam’s Brother) in the middle.
Mary (Sam’s Sister) receiving the kava. Bob (Sam’s Brother) in the middle.

Sam radiated simplicity. Hopping into his treasured gumboots, shovel and bush knife in hand, he would march off to the plantation with a smile on his face. Hours later, he would struggle up the steps of the novitiate in Fiji, covered in mud but still with the smile on his face. We have all heard of the saying ‘a pig in mud.’ Well, Sam was the happiest “pig in mud” that I ever saw when he returned from his plantation. At one stage, we had a very generous community leader who would spare no expense in buying treats for the brother’s community room. One day, Sam walked in and saw the spread of delicious and expensive treats scattered on the table. Out came the response, “Well, it looks like every day is now Christmas Day.” Sam saw and lived everything through the lens of simplicity. He needed very little to be content and happy. 


"Sam saw and lived everything through the lens of simplicity. He needed very little to be content and happy." 

Fiji Old Boys
Fiji Old Boys

Sam lived a deep and practical spirituality. His faith and the Marist values were central to his life. He was an active member of the Christian Meditation Group in Fiji and introduced morning meditation time to the Marist High School in Suva. A tradition that continues to this day. For three years, he was a member of the combined Marist community at the Nazareth Prayer center outside of Suva and forget about trying to beat Sam to the chapel in the morning at the Lomeri Novitiate. You had no chance of being first in the chapel as Sam was there every morning for an hour before community prayer. A man of God in a very real relationship with Jesus and Mary, his Good Mother.


Kava ceremony at the Football Club in Mangere after the funeral. Held with the Fijian MBHS Old Boys.
Kava ceremony at the Football Club in Mangere after the funeral. Held with the Fijian MBHS Old Boys.

 Sam was a man of support. Whether it was a listening ear, a word of wisdom to the young men in formation, a presence around the kava bowl with the Fiji Marist old Boys, a helping hand to a former student and their family or a gentle presence within his meditation group, Sam was always there highlighting Marist presence and support. This support extended from the individual on the street to the needs of the Province and Congregation. When Sam and I were coming to the end of our term at the Lomeri Novitiate, we found ourselves sitting on the steps one night having a cup of coffee. Sam said to me, “Well, what’s next!” The idea, firstly as a joke, came to us that we could volunteer for the new Mission Ad Gentes Project. So, we both immediately went to our rooms to email the Superior General of our willingness to be available and to support this new project of the Congregation. When we left Lomeri, Sam found himself in the novitiate in Ghana in Africa and I ended up in Mindanao in the Southern Philippines.


"Whether it was a listening ear, a word of wisdom to the young men in formation, a presence around the kava bowl with the Fiji Marist old Boys, Sam was always there highlighting Marist presence and support."

Graveside service
Graveside service

 

Sam’s desire to be present, to support and to be available was a hallmark of his Marist life. He was in Fiji for almost fifty years. He taught in NZ for almost 15 years before that. And in that time, he had roughly 42 appointments. Sam, you hold the record for the most appointments. Well done. Gold medal status! And fear not Sam, your record will now never be beaten! And though you felt unprepared and unqualified for much of what you did, remember that you were asked to go to places because of who you were as a person. Your outstanding personal qualities were the qualifications needed, not a piece of paper. 


People wanted your presence and support which led you to being director and community leader wherever you went, principal of the schools you arrived at, District Superior of Fiji, Master of Postulants, Novitiate team member in Fiji and Africa and a much-respected spiritual director to many people. Thank you, Sam, for your presence and support to all of us. Your many appointments were not a sign of failure but a badge of honour for what you gave to the places you were sent. You were needed and you simply said ‘yes’ when your heart wanted to say ‘no.’ You were an expert in leading from the back Sam, while letting us believe we were in front.


"You were needed and you simply said ‘yes’ when your heart wanted to say ‘no.’ You were an expert in leading from the back Sam, while letting us believe we were in front."

Graveside service
Graveside service

 Finally, I would like to finish by reading out a small tribute from an SMSM Sister by the name of Denise. She is currently a member of the SMSM General Council in Rome but was a community member with Sam at the Nazareth Prayer center on his return from Africa. She wrote the following to me: 'Brother Sam was a member of the Nazareth Marist Contemplative Prayer Centre community in Suva, Fiji for almost three years.  With his presence, there was a representative from each of the five branches of the Marist Family. Br Sam's presence added the flavour to the community of a true Marist Brother and son of St Marcellin Champagnat.  Sam was goodness itself – he was simple, humble, faithful, good-natured, non-threatening, generous, fitted in well with our community, was sociable and had humorous stories to share. He loved people and people loved him. He was faithful to his friends.


Soon after he arrived at the Prayer Centre, he began to clear an area of the bush for a vegetable garden and despite the poor quality of the soil, he produced an abundance of vegetables for the kitchen.  He embraced the twice daily times of meditation and the saying of the Office in community and became well known and regarded as a spiritual director and retreat guide.


"He loved people and people loved him."

For many years, Br Sam was an active member of the Christian Meditation community in Fiji, a member of the meditation board and would always be present for the meditation retreat days.  


Monsignor Bernard Kiely, the celebrant
Monsignor Bernard Kiely, the celebrant

When Br Sam left the Prayer Centre, it was the early days of introducing meditation into the schools. Br Sam was one of the first to get meditation as a daily practice in a school. He started this when he was appointed back to the community at Marist Brothers High School in Suva. The boys themselves must have appreciated it because on their own initiative, they would each morning put up a sign at the school entrance, asking people not to enter during the time the school was having meditation. This practice became a fixture of the daily school program. Even after he had left the Prayer Centre, he would always come for retreat days for meditation and meetings and wherever he went, he would start up a weekly meditation group with people who would hear about it.


The Procession
The Procession

One of Br Sam's greatest qualities was his willingness to let go of his own personal interests and preferences, to leave his comfort zone for the greater good and that meant in the years that I knew him, accepting to be shifted from one community to another quite a few times and start anew …...  he had to leave vegetable gardens which he had thriving, and go somewhere else, and begin again, putting in the hard physical work of starting a new garden, especially not easy when the ground available had rubble that had to be cleared first before beginning to dig. There were many other things in which he had invested himself, and would have to let go of, and start again. Such courage. Br Sam touched the lives of many people in Fiji and there will be many friends to welcome him in heaven.


"Br Sam touched the lives of many people in Fiji and there will be many friends to welcome him in heaven."

The cast of “The Bomber Command” Tuakau Juniorate 1947. Sam Eathorne, back row, second from right.
The cast of “The Bomber Command” Tuakau Juniorate 1947. Sam Eathorne, back row, second from right.

Leo Tolstoy once said that “there is no greatness where there is no simplicity.” Well Sam, you were one of the great giants amongst us, reminding all of us of our need to remain simple Marist Brothers, always available for mission.


"Sam, you were one of the great giants amongst us, reminding all of us of our need to remain simple Marist Brothers, always available for mission."

 

Into your hands, O Lord, we entrust our dear brother Sam as we gather around him in loving support and gratitude as he now begins his final journey to you. Sam, the Lord is your shepherd, you have all that you need. You will not be afraid, for the Lord is close beside you. You will now live in the plantation of the Lord, forever. Farewell good and faithful friend and brother. We are better people for having known you and having experienced your love.


Sam, son of Marcellin, Vinaka vaka levu (Thank you very much).


Read Br Peter Carroll's obituary on Br Samuel Eathorne.



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Unknown member
Jan 17

A SEED OF LOVE, SCATTERED WIDE

The earth sighs, a mournful tune,

For Br. Samuel, beneath the moon.

A heart of gold, a soul serene,

A love that bloomed, a verdant scene.


He crossed the seas, a gentle breeze,

Carrying seeds of peace and ease.

To distant shores, where sorrows dwell,

He brought the balm, a healing spell.


With open arms, he embraced the strange,

The weary soul, the heart in range.

He saw the good in every face,

And offered grace, in every place.


From bustling towns to quiet lanes,

He sowed the seeds of love's sweet rains.

In every heart, a tender shoot,

A beacon bright, a guiding route.


Though now he sleeps, beneath the sod,

His legacy…


Edited
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