Gifted Fr Brian heard God’s call early on in life

Even as a child, Fr Brian Playfair knew he wanted to be a priest.

Before a requiem Mass celebrated at the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Hamilton on January 7, Fr Playfair’s niece Bernadine Hannon told of asking her uncle about this.

The answer was that, when the young Brian Playfair was five years old, the local bishop would come to the school in Auckland, and would ask the boys, “who wants to be a priest?”

“And all hands went up,” Mrs Hannon explained. “About six or seven years later, the bishop asked the class — who wants to be a priest? And one hand went up.” And that hand was Brian’s.

So he entered Holy Name Seminary in Christchurch before his teenage years.

“Fr Brian and I started at Holy Name Seminary when we were 12 years old. That goes back a long, long way,” said principal celebrant Bishop Denis Browne, in his welcoming remarks.

Bishop Browne said Fr Playfair was a “priest we all loved so much”. His was a “wonderful life”.

Fr Playfair died on December 31 at Te Aroha, aged 82. Ordained to the priesthood in 1962, among the places at which he ministered were Papatoetoe, Gisborne, Takapuna, Remuera, Avondale, Kawerau, Rotorua, Melville, Paeroa and Te Aroha.

Before the requiem, Mrs Hannon said that her uncle was born in Auckland, and inherited many of his talents from his parents — specifically music, working with wood and gardening.

In the homily, Bishop Browne described Fr Playfair as “a very, very gifted priest — and [he] used those gifts, not for his own benefit, but for the benefit of God’s people”.

He was especially gifted in music. Working in various settings, including schools, he would compose the words and music for little operettas, always based on Scripture, that told of the story of salvation, Bishop Browne said.

Mrs Hannon said her uncle “loved music, and [he] is probably most known for his mandolin playing. But, at times, he played the guitar, ukulele, saxophone, clarinet and the keyboard. He used the keyboard to compose hymns and [the] operettas”.

“Last night, at the vigil [in Te Aroha], the musicians played some of the music he had written.”

Fr Playfair loved working on projects at his bach, about 20 minutes from Waihi. He loved animals, doing wood-turning, fixing clocks, cabinet-making, growing vegetables and reading.

In retirement, as Parkinson’s Disease took hold, he had to give up many of the activities he loved. But he kept holding Monday prayer meetings at his home, even in his later years.

“People spoke of them at the vigil Mass,” Mrs Hannon said.

“For someone who claimed to be introverted, he made friends easily, and I have heard from many people in this last week of the impact he had on their lives, and the friendships they shared,” she added.

She also told of how her uncle once helped her when she was looking for employment.

“My second job came about because one of his parishioners had a vacancy, and I was looking for work. And that is just an example of Uncle Brian, and how he listened to what people said, and he seemed to know what they were needing.”

Although his humour was dry, he “had a twinkle in his eye, he was a ‘Holy Spirit man’, and he was charismatic”, Mrs Hannon said.

“When I asked how this came about, he shared that he had been invited to an evening, and, though skeptical, he went. And it was life-changing for him. When he left, he felt so elated, he jumped the fence and skipped across the paddock home. This was when he lived in Takapuna.”

In his homily, Bishop Browne spoke of Fr Playfair’s never-ending search for God, as well as his patient endurance of suffering for many years, sharing intimately in the sufferings of Christ, so as to share his glory.

“Of all the . . . loves Fr Brian had, the great love was the celebration of the Eucharist. He loved to say Mass. He loved to use the opportunity of the Mass to preach the Word of God and inspire people to be as excited as he was. . . . He was deeply in love with God,” Bishop Browne said.

Bishop Browne also noted that Fr Playfair served at St Joseph’s parish in Te Aroha for quite a few years. That parish welcomed him and loved him and appreciated the fact that he was able to share his creative talent so generously, the bishop said.

Mrs Hannon thanked the staff at Kenwyn Home in Te Aroha for their care for her uncle in his final months.