David Armitage (23 September 1945 – 25 April 2026)

David Armitage was universally loved and greatly appreciated by all those who ever came in contact with him. His selfless service to the mission of True life in God for decades was part of the invisible behind the scenes “glue” that helped in so many ways. David’s answers to any queries were always to the point and if he himself was not able to help, he would explain things and direct you to a person who could. He was a shy person, never putting himself forward, but quietly doing all he could to make True Life in God known. He deeply appreciated the importance of the True Life in God Messages, guarding everything that came to him about TLIG with great care and love for the Lord.

I personally met David for the first time in the autumn of 1996. He came to see me for a chat, and although I was not sure how I could help him, he explained that he was retiring early from Kodak (he was only 51) so that he could work on the True Life in God website. At that time, I did not have an email address and he very kindly set one up for me soon after he started working for the True Life in God mission.

In a way, David and True Life in God were intimately connected in anything to do with computers, film making, YouTube, book publishing and I was particularly grateful to David for coming to my rescue in many, many computer related situations.

It was David who started the daily message (read by thousands), David who constructed the first TLIG website, and David who sent out the first TLIG e-news newsletter. He took over the graphics for the True Life in God magazine when the man I was employing was no longer available. So, David, for all these almost 30 years, was my first port of call in anything I found difficult or was not able to sort out myself. Yes, a special friend, dependable and never wasting time on any conversations which were not useful.

David died on 25 April 2026 on the Feast of St. Mark and it was interesting to note that his birthday was on 23 September 1945, again a Feast Day of one of the special saints of True Life in God, St. Padre Pio. David was born in Leeds; the youngest child in a family of four children (David had two brothers and one sister). We learnt from the Eulogy given by his nephew about a David Armitage we didn’t know; that David was a very keen photographer, interested in chemistry, doing experiments at home from an early age and that he knew exactly what he wanted to do in his life. At the age of 17 he applied to Kodak and was employed by them soon after his 18th birthday. It was at Kodak that he learnt about computers, and that skill gave him the confidence to take on the job of making True Life in God known through that media.

David soon took on the role of overseeing the printing of the True Life in God books, later printing the TLIG magazine, stocking all TLIG materials, and thus together with John Talbott they became a center for TLIG in the UK. They decided to move closer to each other and spent many years doing a splendid job for TLIG. They sent out books to the people in the UK as well as other English-speaking countries around the world. David worked tirelessly behind the scenes for every pilgrimage and together with Anne Marie Peters kept everything under control.

His illness was a great shock to us. On hearing that he was desperately ill, many people prayed for him. He was able to sort out all his worldly matters before his family moved him to a nursing home in Poole. He did not want anyone to visit him, but we learnt that his family was frequently with him. However, David was very happy to chat on the phone, answer emails, and John who worked closely with David, gave us reports on how David was doing, while friends around the world carried on praying for him in earnest. David started improving and seemed to have “resurrected for about a year”, enjoying good care, good food and still keeping in contact with True Life in God friends. He prepared the graphics and typesetting of the last magazine dedicated to Vassula’s passing. All this was done from his hospital bed!

David is buried in the seaside town of Filey in North Yorkshire where his beloved sister and other members of the family chose to spend their holidays. The day was special for us not only because we could represent the True Life in God family from around the world, but also because we could say a few words after the funeral service, sharing the importance of David’s work for True Life in God to his closest family gathered there. The wind was bitterly cold as we stood by his graveside, but as soon as we had some lunch with David’s family the sun came out. This made me think of David again fondly, as he enjoyed his food and always appreciated any effort to feed him.

May he rest in Peace in the embrace of the Most Holy Trinity! Amen

Ewa Allan