Celebrating the life of Dean Comerford
Dean Comerford was an amazing man. He had a great sense of humour and on Promise Keepers road trips with Dean, there was never a dull moment!
Dean had a strong faith and hope in Jesus. He was a friendly, creative, man of God.
He was integral to Promise Keepers NZ in the 2000’s in several roles including providing Men’s Ministry Coaching to pastors and men’s ministry leaders. He developed resources that helped churches lead their men in more effective ways.
Dean also helped plan each year’s Promise Keepers Events, he was creative; coming up with lots of ideas, as well as ensuring the Events ran smoothly. He helped develop and run nearly every part of the Event program including being an MC and an Event Speaker.
He was excellent in connecting with people and had a positive influence on all those around him.
Paul Subritzky, former Promise Keepers National Director says, “Dean was an amazing man, and it was a pleasure to be with him. He was so positive and optimistic. Dean’s legacy is that people will have great memories about the time they spent with him.”
Dean was an outstanding storyteller, and numerous stories included Dean’s antics.
Paul recalls travelling with Dean, Geoff Wiklund and John Subritzky, to meet with Promise Keepers Canada. Paul recounts that the rental car they hired in Toronto, had buttons on the ceiling of the car above your head. Whilst driving along Dean just had to press the buttons to see what they did! He pressed one and a voice announced “Fire, Police or Ambulance?!” Because once is never enough, a short time later, Dean had to press that same button again to hear “Fire, Police or Ambulance?”
On that same road trip, Dean while on the motorway couldn’t resist fiddling with the buttons on the GPS and accidentally turned it off. Now, without directions, he had to drive off the motorway, pull over and figure out how to turn the GPS back on again. Then get back on the motorway to continue the journey. Paul says, “When travelling with Dean there was never a dull moment!”
Geoff Wiklund was the Promise Keepers Board Chairman and worked with Dean on several projects. Geoff says, “Dean was 1000 ideas a minute, I would help narrow it down to 500 ideas. Dean had so many ideas and most of them were very good, in fact, we adopted many of them.”
Geoff often visited Dean and prayed with him. They were in touch regularly, praying together, especially during Dean’s recent battle with lung cancer.
Geoff says, “We were more than ministry-friends; we were friends.”
John Subritzky, former Promise Keepers Communications Director says, “Dean brought energy and enthusiasm to his roles at PK. He started in ministry working with youth in Invercargill with YFC. That helped shape his approach to ministry with PK where he thought that anything was possible. Dean was an integral part of the event planning team.
Tiring of cold climates, Dean and Tania moved to Gympie, Australia, where Dean became Deano. They pastored Gympie Community Church for over 10 years before moving to the coast. Settling at Hervey Bay, Dean and Tania got into the accommodation business and bought a hat store because Dean loved hats! Although no longer in formal ministry, they continued to make a huge impact on those in the community around them.”
From our Promise Keepers family in New Zealand, we extend our love and prayers to Dean’s wife Tania and their children, Sam and Amelia, and daughter-in-law, Grace and granddaughter Poppy.