Gary's legacy lives on with photos adorning the walls of Saint Paul's

THE Community of Saint Paul’s High School Bessbrook is in mourning following the passing of popular school photographer Gary Crossan.

Mr Crossan, who was the loving husband to Julie as well as father to Rowen, Reesa and Rudy, died suddenly at his home.

Well renowned throughout the community of south Armagh and south Down for his work as photographer Gary was held in the highest of esteem by all those whom he captured through the lens of his camera thanks in no small part to his charismatic character and proficiency with his craft.

However no more poignantly will Mr Crossan’s presence be missed than within the hallowed halls of Saint Paul’s High School Bessbrook where he was never that far away with a camera to capture any and all major school events.

Whilst the school will now be entering a protracted period of mourning following the passing of their beloved photographer, the many photos which Gary captured that adorn the walls of the school will act as an immortal testament to the years of work he carried out ensuring that his legacy lives on at Saint Paul’s for years to come.

This is a fact that is not lost on school principal Mr Dáithí Murray, who stated that the beautiful and poignant thing is that the school “ is adorned with his photography and this will be his legacy.”

Lasting Legacy

“I worked personally with Gary for over 20 years. He was a really good friend.

“Long before I became principal I was the school press officer and I would have looked after publicity. Gary was our school photographer.

“He was such a kind and considerate person. He was a friend to everyone in the school and the children adored him which is a perfect quality in a school photographer. He made everyone feel very special and unique.

“Everyone knew Gary, and he knew everyone. This is a massive school with over 200 staff and 1’800 pupils and yet Gary knew all of our staff. He would talk to them, ask them about their family and holidays. This was just his easy manner and the way he engaged with people. These are the perfect qualities of a school photographer. He had a great way of reassuring people and relaxing them when he took photographs.

“His impact and the affect of his charismatic personality were felt all over the south Armagh and south Down area. There were so many primary and post-primary schools that Gary worked in.

“The beautiful and poignant thing is that our school is adorned with his beautiful photography and this will be his legacy. It is all the more poignant now when you see it and you think to yourself, God, he will never be back to capture the next generation of young people who go through the school.”

True to form Mr Crossan would be covering events hosted by the school, including the audience Saint Paul’s gave to this years winning All Ireland Armagh team, until just a number of days before his untimely passing.

According to Mr Murray their has been a “huge outpouring” of grief at the school in response to the gap left behind following Gary’s death.

Outpouring of grief

“We have all been very shocked by the suddenness and untimeliness of his death. There has been a huge outpouring of grief at the school. Gary was with us at the very start of this academic year. He came in at the beginning of September to capture all the images of the new first year’s and he also covered our school prize giving on September 5.

“We also hosted the home coming of our past players on the Armagh team on the morning of September 6 and Gary was there on our behalf capturing photos of the school.

“Gary and I were texting the night before he died. He had provided me with beautiful photographs of our prize giving ceremony as he had captured the award winners at the end of the night.

“ He had sent them to me and I put them up on our website. I linked them back to him saying that we were delighted with the photos. He came back to me to say that he was delighted and that he would see us again when he was next in.

“Then to get the news the next day that he had died very suddenly was a crushing blow.

“For him to go so quickly after this is very hard to come to terms with.”

Mr Crossan is survived by his dearly loved wife Julie, as well as children Rowen, Reesa and Rudy.

He was the cherished son of Kenneth and Sally, loving brother of Shane, Carol, Mariesa and Cathal and loving son-in-law of Alwin and Ruth.