A THANKSGIVING service celebrating the life of a man who taught music to thousands of people in Bromsgrove is to take place at the church he called his second home.

Roger Brooks was director of music, organist and choirmaster at St John’s Parish for 22 years but also taught at Bromsgrove and Dodderhill schools as well as providing private tuition.

He moved away to Guernsey in 2001 and died in January of this year from heart failure at the age of 71.

A ‘Service of Thanksgiving’ for his life will be held at St John’s on Saturday, May 4 at 2.30pm with anyone who knew Roger invited to attend.

His wife Susan said: “There will be people in Bromsgrove who knew him and who wouldn’t have been able to come to the funeral in Guernsey because of the expense or distance.

“So this is an open invite to anybody who knew him, to come to the service on May 4 to celebrate Roger’s life.

“Over the course of 30 years living in Bromsgrove, he had an enormous influence over a lot of young people with his work.”

Susan and Roger were married for 46 years, having first met in 1971 – they attended the Royal College of Music together, where Roger studied organ, harpsichord and conducting.

Roger became assistant director of music at Bromsgrove School – he left in 1973 to work at a school in Cheltenham for five years but still lived in Bromsgrove.

After that Roger – who was born in Bristol in 1947 but moved to the Midlands and was educated at Worcester Royal Grammar School – became a freelance music teacher along with his church role, which saw him take choirs all over the country to perform.

Susan added: “He taught an awful lot of people in Bromsgrove because in addition to his work in schools, he had a private teaching practice as well.

“People involved with the choir at St John’s always seemed to look upon him with a great deal of fondness – it wasn’t just a choir, it was a family in a way.

“He had great pastoral care and he wasn’t just a choirmaster to them but somebody rather special.”

The service of thanksgiving will feature former St John’s choristers returning to the church to sing alongside the current choir.

Also involved will be Barnt Green Choral Society, which Roger was a part of for many years, and a group of singers from Dodderhill School for Girls in Droitwich where Roger taught.

Susan added: “It will be quite the musical event and that’s what Roger would have wanted.

“It’s a very fitting way to celebrate all the things he did – it’s not meant to be a memorial, it’s a celebration of his life, a life lived to the full.”