Canon Owen Conway

OWEN Arnott Conway, a much loved Yorkshire priest, has died suddenly aged 69. As incumbent in turn of Osmondthorpe, Armley and Headingley, Canon Conway exercised a notable and much-valued parochial min­istry in his native city for 30 years. He would probably himself have claimed to be a modern Anglican Catholic of the old school. Titles never seemed very important, and in public he responded equally to Rev Conway, Father, Canon or, most likely, simply Owen.

His many gifts flourished at Armley and Headingley par­ticularly, not least as the cen­tenaries of both St Bartholomew's and St Michael's fell during his terms. He was kept busy, too, during the 150th anniversary of the Diocese of Ripon in 1986. St Michael's centenary year marked Conway's ordi­nation silver jubilee.

Warmly expansive in per­sonality as well as stature, he was a larger-than-life figure in his home diocese and there was much regret in Yorkshire when Bishop Baughen called him for cathe­dral work as canon residen­tiary, precentor and sacrist at Chester from 1991. The Con­way Sunday lunch at Chester was famous. The seeds of his cathedral sojourn had per­haps been sown during a six month sabbatical from Head­ingley supported by the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group. He travelled to every English cathedral - once in civvies and once as a clergy­man; the resulting paper A Cathedral Pilgrimage exam­ined in holistic terms the nature of cathedral ministry countrywide.

It was never quite clear whether he found full-time cathedral life quite what he thought it might be and friends sometimes sensed a frustration with structures rather than individuals. On "retirement" to Kirkbymoor­side in 2000, on-going involve­ment in parishes of the dis­trict seemed natural for this energetic and committed cleric.

Only son of Morris Roberts Conway and Sarah Elizabeth Arnott, Owen Conway was Leeds born and bred. His father had come to the city from his home town of Kendal to open the Provincial Insurance office in Leeds and his mother was from Scarbor­ough. Along with a future Archdeacon of Leeds, Tony Comber, the young Owen was an altar server at All Souls, in Blackman Lane, Leeds.
Leeds Grammar School and Durham University where, in his own words, he gained "a third in music and a first in rugby" were followed by St Stephen's House, Oxford. Durham brought him into contact with Pam where the two had met during a dress
rehearsal for The Bartered Bride. Their happy and ful­filled family life underpinned everything he achieved.

Music remained of funda­mental importance to them both. As an undergraduate, he had studied at Solesmes Abbey, the crucible of con­temporary plainsong scholar­ship. In Durham, he was inte­gral in reviving the St Chad's Advent Procession which still flourishes; its extensive influ­ence owed much to his involvement. Those fortunate enough to possess his mas­terly three-volume compila­tion The Gate of Heaven - well worth having for the introductory essay alone - will discern the unique and hugely imaginative Conway approach to liturgy in the 26 liturgical pageants contained within its covers.
At Chester, he was instru­mental in setting up the cathedral girls' choir. As a quality musician himself, he valued relationships personal and professional with musi­cians, whether in ecclesiasti­cal or secular spheres. Owen and Pam were keen and long standing supporters of Leeds Festival Chorus.
He was a highly effective trainer of clergy, no less than 17 curates serving in his parishes with him.

His connection with York­shire Metropolitan Housing Association, which began at Armley, led to keen involve­ment with the provision of public housing. Chaplaincy work at Wheatfield's Hospice when he was vicar of Headin­gley led to increasing com­mitment to the ministry of healing and the work of the Guild of St Raphael of which he was a councillor.
Wardenship of the Ripon Diocesan House at Barrowby, Kirkby Overblow, gave full scope to the warm sociability that informed his work; three of his posts involved the run­ning of licensed social bars - malt whiskies and wine were particular enthusiasms. Few cricket-loving clergy with as a great an enthusiasm for the county team as his could have been better placed than he when he became vicar of Headingley; also important to him were holidays in France and, more recently, Italy.
His son Philip, a parish priest in Truro diocese and a former Ripon Cathedral cho­rister, served a curacy at Christ Church, Harrogate. His daughter Catherine is in the final stages of ministerial training on the North-East Ecumenical- Course.
A eucharist of thanksgiving for Canon Conway's life and ministry took place on Thursday, September 30, at All Saints Kirkbymoorside.

Acknowledgment: photo & text copyright Yorkshire Post Newspapers