Eddie was born in 1927 and grew up in Nottingham, England. In the mid-1940s Eddie was called up for service and volunteered with the Navy medical corps where he assisted surgeons in theatre. After his service ended he trained to be a teacher at St John’s College, York.
Eddie first felt called to working with people affected by leprosy when he saw an exhibition on leprosy work during a visit to a cathedral. In 1950 he married Barbara and one month after the wedding they sailed for India with The Leprosy Mission where Eddie took up a post as Principal of a school in Purulia, West Bengal, for leprosy-affected children. Two years later he was asked to take over the running of TLM’s 600-bed home and hospital there. Eddie, Barbara and their two daughters, Stephanie and Jenny, left Purulia in 1965 and returned to England, where Eddie took up the position of Executive Secretary at the International Office in London. In 1974 he became International General Secretary.
It was a time of change and the Singapore Conference ‘Deed and Word’ of 1976 heralded the transition of The Leprosy Mission from a London-centred organisation to a truly international fellowship where those who needed care, those who cared for them and those who provided the means to care were bonded into a true partnership of love and concern.
About the same time it became evident that leprosy bacilli were becoming resistant to Dapsone which for many years had been the basic, cheap treatment for leprosy. Many studies resulted in the adoption by the World Health Organisation (WHO) of Multi-Drug Therapy (MDT). The introduction of MDT during Eddie’s leadership was to result in many and profound changes in the Mission’s programmes.
He was also closely involved in the establishment of ILEP (International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations), which sought to co-ordinate the activities and programmes of organisations of diverse countries, languages and beliefs so that their resources were not wasted or duplicated. In this Eddie’s diplomatic skills were greatly appreciated in helping to bring together amicably often widely-differing viewpoints.
Eddie was a gifted speaker with an easy and witty manner and could move, persuade and motivate his hearers. To his colleagues he was always easy, unpretentious and approachable, ready to listen or encourage. He was well-liked and well-respected and had a wonderful sense of humour. An early riser, he would arrive at the office well before the morning rush hour to have a period free of interruptions when he could think and write. He continued the practice of a monthly newsletter to the Mission staff worldwide, a blend of news items and a short devotional passage and in 1982 he was persuaded by Morgan Derham to publish a selection of some of the latter as A Silence and a Shouting – the first of many such books (16 in total) which have been so much appreciated.
Eddie was always an artist and on his frequent travels he was never without a camera or a sketch book. His best-selling devotional books, calendars, paintings and cards raised around £2.5 million for TLM, and over a million copies of his books have been sold.
He longed for more time to write and paint and after thirteen intense, productive but exhausting years of leadership he retired five years early in May 1987.
Eddie’s life was indeed a partnership: first with his beloved Barbara with whom he went to Purulia Leprosy Hospital in Bengal, India. Here was born also that deep love and compassion for those affected by leprosy that underlay all of Eddie’s subsequent ministry. Finally, as the foundation of his whole life, was his partnership with his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Eddie Askew OBE, much loved husband, father and grandfather, artist, writer, broadcaster, former general secretary of The Leprosy Mission, died with dignity on the 27 September 2007.
His funeral was held in Nottingham on 9th October. A Memorial Service of Thanksgiving for his life will be held at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, London on 28 November.
