A BEREAVED family have paid tribute to their father and 'eccentric' pastor, Brian Pilmoor.

The pastor, who spent many of his years attempting to bring harmony between biblical texts and modern scientific thinking, passed away last weekend.

Pr Pilmoor fell ill with Covid-19 earlier this year, however the 98 year old managed to recover and fight off the virus.

But soon after, he fell ill with osteomyelitis, a rare bone infection, and passed away on Sunday, May 10.

Victor, Pr Pilmore's son, said his dad 'had an extraordinary zest for life'.

He said: "One of his many passions became a desire help people ‘kick the habit’, abandon the harmful, and to live healthfully."

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Victor went on to describe his father's early life after being born in York in 1921.

He said: "He left school aged 14 and was fortunate to work at Terry’s chocolates in the recently established graphic design and display department.

"In 1939 he was obliged to enlist for military service to whom he offered the skill of ‘camouflage artist’ which was sufficiently diffuse for his papers to become unnoticed.

"In 1942 he joined the RAF, where he served under the South-East Asia command and was deployed in Delhi as a Cartographer, drawing detailed maps of aerial photographs for the ground forces in Burma.

"In 1946 he returned to York with a determination to submit his life ‘to the Lord’ and to serve purposes greater than himself.

"While still in uniform, he met Dorothy whose love he shared for almost 70 years."

Brian attended Newbold College in Binfield, Bracknell, while preparing for ministry, before being called to pastor a church and work as a bible teacher in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia).

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He returned to England in 1973, aged 52, before finally retiring 14 years later. He moved back to Binfield to be with his family at 80 years old.

His son also described his father's habit of speaking to many Bracknell residents he encountered: "While he was teaching, as an eccentric in the English tradition, Brian began looking for patterns that he believed brought harmony between ancient Biblical texts and the ideas of Science.

"It became the subject of his conversation with everyone he encountered on the bus or walking around Binfield and Bracknell."

Victor added: "On May 10, Brian, a man with subtle humour and lightening repartee, aged at almost 99, left an entertained family, represented by sons Victor and Roy, their bemused wives Anne and Sandra along with four grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

"He leaves a home in Binfield cluttered with writing, some composed into booklets with ideas composed and illustrated every day for the last fifty years."