John Vincent Courtney: There is an old saying: A man may have a long life but would it be a good life? Or a man may have a good life but would it be a long life? John Vincent Courtney, Omagh, who died on June 27th aged 87, had both a long and a good life.
Vincent, or JV, as he was known to his family and friends, had a distinguished career in the ministry/department of agriculture in Northern Ireland. In recognition of his professional contributions and leadership role in agriculture, he received the Queen's Jubilee Medal in 1977 and the Order of the British Empire in 1982 for fostering new methods of hill land reclamation in Tyrone.
There were three core values which guided Vincent's life: education, inclusiveness and fairness in his dealings with all groups and levels in society. His relationships with superiors, colleagues, staff members and farmers were guided by a keen sense of professionalism. He was a man of great integrity, modest, genuine, sincere and tactful. His former colleagues described Vincent as a gentleman in every sense of the word, who saw the best in everyone and brought out the best in everyone.
He was born on a farm near Newtownbutler, Co Fermanagh, in 1919. His secondary schooling was at St Macartan's College in Monaghan and the Marist College in Dundalk, Co Louth. He gained a ministry of agriculture scholarship to study at Queen's University, Belfast, where he graduated with a BAgr degree in 1941. It was during his time at Queen's that he met his future wife, the late Patricia Courtney (née Rodgers).
After graduation, Vincent worked on fertilisers and soils with the then ministry of agriculture and in 1945 was appointed agricultural advisory officer for Omagh and Clogher Rural District. In 1952 he was appointed deputy county agricultural executive officer for Tyrone where he worked until 1972, when he was promoted to county agricultural executive officer for Armagh. In 1975 Vincent returned to Tyrone as county agricultural executive officer, a position he held until his retirement in 1983. Following retirement, he was appointed to the Dairy Produce Quota Tribunal for Northern Ireland.
In his early professional work, he taught agricultural classes in the evenings throughout Tyrone and was an occasional guest lecturer at Loughrey College, Cookstown; Greenmount College, Antrim; and Queen's University, Belfast. He was a mentor to many students and followed their careers.
Vincent was keenly interested in the development of farming and, in particular, he loved updating farmers and giving advice on grants and subsidies. He was a member of the BBC Agricultural Advisory Committee and the Ulster Grassland Society. He promoted the agricultural shows in Omagh, Clogher and Enniskillen and judged entries there. In the 1950s he took a large group of Tyrone farmers to study research results at Johnstown Castle and to visit Wexford farms.
Outside his professional activities Vincent was deeply involved in a host of organisations. He was chairman of the Omagh Anglers Association; member of the advisory council of the Foyle Fisheries Committee; member and secretary of the Ulster Irish Red Setter Club; president, Strabane gun dog field trials association; member, historic monument council; and member, board of governors, St Joseph's Training College, Midleton.
He was an avid sportsman, an early environmentalist and a keen gardener. An excellent angler who loved dry-fly fishing, he represented Ireland in international competitions. He loved to hunt pheasant, grouse, geese and duck. For 56 years he played an active role in the Ulster Irish Red Setter Club. Each summer he arranged Irish red setter trials on Murley Mountain, Co Tyrone, and frequently judged such trials there and elsewhere in Britain and Ireland.
Vincent is survived by his eight children, Yvonne, Irene, Thomas, John, Marie, Garry, Éamonn and Arthur; 18 grandchildren and a great-grandson.
John Vincent Courtney: born, April 8th, 1919; died, June 27th, 2006