Sudden death of trainee minister Paul Beesley

A former teacher from the Black Country died suddenly after collapsing while collecting his son from primary school.

Trainee Baptist minister Paul Beesley, aged 42, suffered an embolism while picking up nine-year-old Timothy and later died of heart failure.

He had grown up in Wednesbury and was well known across the region due to his role as a trustee at the Heart of England Baptist Association.

Around 400 mourners led by his wife Jenni and son Timothy attended a thanksgiving service for his life at Chester Road Baptist Church, Sutton Coldfield on Monday.

Previously based at Fox Yards School, Tipton and at Marsh Hill School, Erdington he gave up teaching to train for ministry at Regent's College, Oxford. He had a placement at Hall Green Baptist Church, Birmingham where he was the trainee minister and was due to be ordained next summer to take up a full-time post at Fleckney Baptist, Leicestershire.

Family friend the Rev Ken Hawkings, who led the packed service, paid tribute to Mr Beesley and urged mourners to celebrate his life.

Mr Beesley trained as a teacher at the University of Wolverhampton where he met his wife Jenni, also a teacher.

A former pupil of Mesty Croft Junior and Wood Green High schools, both Wednesbury, he is also survived by parents Pat and Barry who still live in the area and sister Julie now based in Australia, who flew home for the funeral.

Mr Beesley was given a private cremation at Sutton Crematorium ahead of the church service. He had died on December 6.

He was a founder of the Thingies youth service held at Baptist churches in Warley and Edgbaston on Sunday nights in the 1990s attended by hundreds of teenagers.