Thank you to everyone who came along to the commemorative celebration held in the Leeds Adelphi pub on Sunday 22 August.  As family, we loved it, from brother and sister to nephews, all were really touched.  Especial thanks to Damien, Pete and Louise.

As a family, we continue, we survive and go on.  We carry John with us as we go.

'John was a lot of things to a lot of people. He was kind, and generous
to a fault. Beloved son of Hazel & Tennant Brownlee, he was born and brought up in the Borders. His life was lived, not at 100 miles per hour; rather at walking pace. But they say that you can see and do more when you travel slowly. And meet and make time for more people, along the way. While he never married, or had children, he always made time for others, and while never well off, he was always rich in spirit.
 
He moved to Edinburgh when he left school and became a nurse. But more
important, he spent lots of time and passion in the Edinburgh punk scene where he became known, for obvious reasons, as John Clash. His love of music, especially the Clash, Waterboys, Pete Wylie and others, never left, and while he had few possessions, he treasured his music collection. Mainly Clash live gigs on cassette and later, CD & DVD, but a few other treasures too.
 
His other passion was art. And over the course of many years he drew
cartoons of himself and his friends, on paper, napkins, in notebooks and in the margins of his letters. He was always giving them away, and many of his friends have kept hold of them. When he moved to Leeds he retrained as a graphic designer in the 1980s, and made good use of his skills, volunteering his time and design skills for webpages and publicity for local charities and the church over many years. Whatever he did, he always did it with integrity, and to help others. He had more money plants than actual money, and gave them more care than he did for his few possessions. Just as it should be.
 
In later life he helped out at a local foodbank, worked as a care
assistant, and was church warden at All Souls in Leeds. He made time for his nephews and nieces, and loved their visits. There was nothing he loved more than taking them for a meal, and listening to their stories and lives. he made time for everyone, and his letters were filled with stories of people he'd met, and spoken to.
 
He lived as an example of what a man can be, with faith of the strength
of the human, and divine spirit. He touched lots of people, and helped them with little, and not so little, things. '