Fr. Aylward Shorter MAfr died in the early morning of Sunday 29th January 2003 in his 91st year of life and 61st year of priesthood. He had been living in community in Little Ealing Lane, London until very recently when he needed more specialised care.
Aylward was born in 1932 in Southwark and was ordained 30 years later in Totteridge, North London as a Missionary of Africa.
Immediately after ordination he was sent for further studies, first in Rome, then at Oxford. From then on apart from a brief time in a parish in Tanzania, his life was very much devoted to Education’ particularly concerning Anthropology and Missiology. Ggaba Institute in Uganda, AMECA Pastoral Centre in Eldoret, Kenya, Kipalapala Major Seminary in Tabora, Tanzania, and Eastleigh in Nairobi were all places where he taught. Later he spent time as President of the Missionary Institute London (MIL), North London and as Principal of Tangaza College, Nairobi.
In the later years of his life he lived and prayed in community in Little Ealing Lane, London.
It is difficult to do justice to the long life of such a confrere without simply churning out lists of places and jobs. Suffice it to say that he will be well remembered by the hundreds, if not thousands of students whose lives he impacted and the many colleagues and confreres with whom he lived and worked.
May the Lord who called him to serve the people of Africa so many years ago, now welcome him into the Eternal Life which he proclaimed and for which he was created. May he rest in peace.