Obituary: Pastor Davy Jones

By KATHARINE QUARMBY / Photo: © Ciara Leeming

Pastor Davy Jones
Buried Monday 20 July 2015
Born 1955

Davy Jones, the leader of the evangelical Life and Light church died on 11 July this year. He left behind his wife, Nora, and his three daughters Angela, Lucy and Keilah, and many much-loved grandchildren. 

Pastor Jones was buried at North Walsall Cemetery on 20 July. Over 5000 Romanies and Travellers attended his funeral, with some coming from Australia, America, France and Holland. Tributes have flowed in from all over the world. 

John Le Cossec, the son of Clement Le Cossec, who founded the church in France, paid a generous tribute, along with his wife, Nancy: “David was surely chosen to be used to reach his people. It was not just by chance that we met him in the fall of 1979 near Darlington, it was by Divine Appointment. When David and Nora gave their lives to Jesus Christ that was just the beginning of a move of God among their people. God had prepared him before that, as you hear in his personal testimony. Year later David shared with us, and I quote: “if you had come one day earlier I would not have been here. If you had come three days later I would have been gone.”. David was a truly humble man of God, with the heart of a servant, a man with genuine integrity. We grieve his parting, yet look forward to the day when we meet again in Heaven.”

Cathay Birch, another church member, remember how she and her husband Joe came to the church in 1992. “There was a convention at the end of July, and the sight before our eyes was wonderful. Davey saved so many of us, by the wonderful message that he brought. I don’t think there is a Gypsy in the country or abroad who has not heard of Davy Jones and his love for Jesus and the Travelling people. We have met him and his lovely wife a few time over the years and he has changed the lives for the better of many Gypsies. I would say he did for Gypsies what Billy Graham did for non-Gypsies. God rest his soul, and comfort and encourage his wife and daughters.”

Jackie Boyd, a leading pastor in the church, remembers him with great affection. “Davey meant a lot to all of us, he was there, he was a tower of strength and a very wise man. God used him and it’s just sad in his passing that people will miss out on the great parts of his life. They will never know what he was like to be with. But you can bury the workman but the work goes on. He built a stable foundation in this country. We have 33 churches and over 100 preachers now. He was just a normal man, willing to be used by God. When you are righteous, you will have enemies.”

He recalled how he had been saved by Davey himself – his own cousin. “He was dressed normally, and he shared the Gospel with me, and I became one of his early converts.”


Billy Welch, the organiser of Appleby Horse Fair and his close cousin, mourns him, and recalls him as a boy. “I’ve known him all my life, as an older lad. I’ve always looked up to him – he had a wise head on young shoulders, he was very intelligent. You would always go to him for advice. My father thought the world of him.”

Billy’s father brought the Le Cossec family, and the church to Darlington, which is how the church started in the UK. “At the funeral there was a great photograph of him and my father together, with the French Gypsies. He has left an enormous hole in our lives, in our community. The funeral was a perfect illustration of how he was loved – people came from al over the world to say goodbye. He was sent off like a King.”

Janie and Cliff Codona, other church members, also paid their respects. “It is so, so sad. We have known Davy for over 25 years, and he was a man who had time for everyone. He dedicated his life to God and only worked to help others. We are proud to have known him, travelled with him, and shared part of our life with him.”

A few years ago, I interviewed Davey Jones at Appleby Fair, in his chrome caravan, (called the first church by Life and Light, as the first services were held in it) about the amazing spread of his church: “Life and Light has been called the silent revival,” he said. “In the last few years we have opened 27 large churches in this country alone. My people were in spiritual darkness. Now many of them are experiencing a personal relationship with God for the first time.” Last year I saw him again, at the Selby mission, with Nora. He had just come back from a mission in Ireland. We stood outside the big tent, as the afternoon service drew to a close and I asked him whether he had ever thought the church he had brought to the UK would grow like this. 
Davy looked at the tent behind us, full of his people, praying, and shook his head. “We were just a few then, I had no idea. But that is God’s work, not the work of men.”