Newtown funeral for Walter weeks after 100th birthday

A MUCH-loved County Armagh man - who passed away in Fermanagh after recently celebrating his 100th birthday - will be returned to his native Newtownhamilton at the weekend for a funeral service and burial.

Tributes have been paid to William Walter Bottom after his passing last Monday.

Mr Bottom, known to all as Walter, passed away peacefully at South West Acute Hospital. He had been predeceased by his wife, Vivian.

A service for family and friends of the former teacher was held on Thursday in Ballycassidy House Funeral Home, at Killadeas Road in Enniskillen, followed by private cremation in Cavan.

And this coming Saturday, November 25, Mr Bottom will make his final journey to his resting place in County Armagh.

A funeral service and thanksgiving for Mr Bottom’s long and productive life will be held in St John’s Church, Newtownhamilton, at 2pm.

Officiating will be the Rev Maurice Armstrong, the rector of the church which Mr Bottom had attended in Tempo. He will be assisted by the Rev David Moses, the rector at St John’s.

Only last month, Rev Moses visited Tilery Care Home in Enniskillen, accompanied by parishioners, Allen and Alyson Jones, to bring with them the good wishes of the congregation at Newtownhamilton on the occasion of Mr Bottom’s 100th birthday.

They presented him with a birthday card which had been signed by 87 friends and parishioners who wanted to wish him many happy returns.

Now, sadly, they will be preparing for the funeral service this weekend, which is expected to be very well-attended.

Rev Moses, who had met the centenarian on a number of occasions, since he moved to Co Fermanagh, paid tribute this week following Mr Bottom’s passing.

He told the Ulster Gazette: “People have told me stories about him and he is obviously held in high esteem in the local area.

“He was teaching for many years in the school and a lot of the local people would have been taught by him.

“Everybody that talks to me about him has a very high regard for him.

“I visited him a couple of times at Tilery Nursing Home outside Enniskillen and had great conversations with him.”

Indeed, it was there that Mr Bottom had spent his final years.

But it was a long journey, after a long and fulfilling life, which found him in Enniskillen.

During his working years he helped shape many young minds in his position as a teacher and that really has come across in the tributes which have been paid on social media.

One wrote simply: “Mr Bottom was a great teacher and a gentleman.”

Mr Bottom was originally from Armagh, but moved to Newtownhamilton many years ago, where he was a Diocesan Lay Reader in St John’s Parish Church.

He was born at Dobbin Street in Armagh on September 25, 1923, just five years after the end of the First World War.

His family moved to the Mall, where he grew up as a member of the congregation of St Mark’s Parish Church, starting out on his educational journey, like so many Armachians, at the Armstrong Primary School.

He was active within the Church Lads’ Brigade and played in their Pipe Band.

Mr Bottom had a life-long interest in the Church of Ireland and was deeply involved in St John’s Parish Church, Newtownhamilton, since 1954, serving as a member of the Select Vestry and as a Diocesan Lay Preacher of many years, regularly covering church services throughout the Diocese of Armagh.

He started out in his working life as a dental technician, making and fitting dentures!

He would go on to obtain his City & Guilds qualification in Furniture Making, which led him into his career teaching woodwork and metalwork in Newtownhamilton High School, a popular member of staff with both peers and pupils alike.

Mr Bottom also regularly taught night classes in woodwork, both in Newtownhamilton and in Bessbrook.

Family say he was gifted with good practical skills and could ‘turn his hand’ to anything, from DIY, gardening and boat building to jewellery making, watercolour and oil painting.

It was at the start of his married life that he built a family home at Armagh Road, Newtownhamilton, where he lived for 47 years with his wife Vivian, raising a family of four children.

Vivian also taught and, after 40 years in the profession, the couple relocated to County Fermanagh to be closer to their family.

Mr Bottom had been able to pursue his many interests up until relatively recently; indeed, some of his artwork adorned the walls of his room in the Tilery Care Home, where he had been resident up until the time of his passing.

According to a funeral notice, Mr Bottom was the “beloved husband of the late Vivian, dearly loved father of Kathryn (Kenneth), Stella (Malcolm), Lyn (the late Philip), Connel (Vivienne) and a much-loved grandfather of Jenni (Jonny), Kate (Scott), Sophie, Jason and Matthew and great grandfather to Zac, Georgia, Freddie, Seth and Theo”.

While family flowers only were requested, donations in lieu, if desired, are being accepted, to be divided between St John’s Parish Church, Newtownhamilton, and St Margaret’s Parish Church, Clabby, with cheques to be made payable to W T Morrison, Funeral Directors and sent to Ballycassidy House Funeral Home, 101 Killadeas Road Enniskillen, BT94 2EW, or donations can be made online via wtmorrison.com.