Death of a Benefactor

Ing. Giancarlo Colombo and his wife, Regina

At the beginning of June we were sad to hear of the death of Giancarlo Colombo, 91 years old, to whom we owe Colombo House in Teddington, UK. 

This Italian engineer, born in 1922, was a friend and admirer of Fr. Bidone, and the work he was doing. He was one of five brothers who set up an important and very successful family engineering firm, responsible for building some of the big motorways in Italy.

In 1961 Giancarlo’s younger brother, Angelo, was tragically killed when working on the Turin-Venice motorway, at the age of only 36, and it was as a memorial to his beloved brother that Giancarlo decided to donate the money for the purchase of a house Fr. Bidone wished to use for children with learning difficulties.

Ing. Giancarlo visited England in July 2001, together with his German wife, Regina, and the photos show them in front of the statue of Our Lady of Westminster outside the Chapel at Hampton Wick on that occasion.

Giancarlo was very proud of his long white beard, and was widely known by one and all as “Barba”, which means “the Beard!”

Colombo House was recently renovated to accommodate some of our more independent clients in separate flats.

Eternal rest grant to him O, Lord. May he rest in peace.

Fr. Malcolm Dyer FDP

Delegate

Missionary Delegation "Mother of the Church"