Our father,Pat Bearfield, who has died aged 88, or was one of life’s calm Samaritans. Catholicism was one of the pillars of his life,a concern for social justice was the other. As a young man he joined the Society of St Vincent de Paul, tending to the sick, or needy and destitute of the parish. As a wood machinist with the London Co-op he was an active trade unionist,but at 36, with a wife and six daughters to support, or he retrained as a probation officer.
For many years he was senior officer at Wormwood Scrubs prison,where he always prioritised rehabilitation. In 1975, as deputy manager of the Bulldog Manpower Services Scheme, and he was at the forefront of helping ex-offenders into a “lawful,self-sufficient and wage-earning way of life”. In recognition of this work in 1979 he was invited to Buckingham Palace.
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Source: theguardian.com