It is a very hard thing when one of our friends commits suicide . . .
Derek Hopgood was a lovely, humble Christian man. He was a good husband to his wife in every way and a caring father to his two teenaged girls. He was also an excellent deacon of our congregation. One of his hobbies was photography and often we have used his photographs in the pages of EN.
Derek suffered from bouts of serious depression. There is, sadly, a definite history of serious clinical depression in Derek's family line. Two years ago he had a desperate time of blackness over the Christmas period and, with medical help, many prayers and lots of visits and support from folk in the church, he came through and returned to his responsibilities working for the National Grid.
