Paul Bernard Eccles (4 July 1952 - 9 April 2012), or Mr Eccles as he was respectfully known to us, was more than just your average Religious Education teacher, he taught us during our time at St Paul's Catholic School in years 8, 9, 10 and 11 and he was a profoundly conscientious educator who had great knowledge to pass onto us as developing young adults. This is our way of saying thank you to a great man and a gentleman who influenced us greatly as we passed through our secondary school and sixth form studies. He taught us values and beliefs that will remain with us forever, and we will remember him for the rest of our days. He was an authoritative teacher, but he was fair, it was very easy to develop a working friendship with Mr Eccles and he would stir up some incredibly engaging debates in respect to religion, ethics and general contemporary life. He taught the syllabus of religion and ethics in a diverse manner, bringing us the wonders of Mark's Gospel and Christian studies which wetted our appetite for our religion and stimulated our young minds. He was one of the pillars of St Paul's, only recently retiring he was set to enjoy a life outside the four walls of the school, it is very sad to hear that he passed away today on Easter Monday. Mr Eccles was one of the wisest men we ever had the pleasure of meeting and we are thankful for having met him. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all his family, friends and former pupils during this extremely difficult time.
God bless x
