Harry Gration: York Minster funeral remembers BBC TV presenter

Hundreds of people have attended a service of thanksgiving for former BBC Look North presenter Harry Gration.

The long-standing broadcaster died at the age of 71 on 24 June.

Addressing the congregation at York Minster, Mr Gration’s widow Helen thanked people for attending the service and described her husband as everyone’s friend.

In addition to family, friends and colleagues, the public had also been invited to attend the service.

Leading the tributes to her husband, Helen Gration said: “We know that to everyone Harry was a friend, and we know we shared him with many.

“But to us, he was husband, dad, and daddy, and we loved him totally.”

She said they had not really planned his funeral.

“He hoped he might fill a pew or two at our local church,” she said.

“He worried always that it might conflict with a match on the telly. So, I can sense him assessing today with some embarrassment – but also some bashful pride.

“Modesty was always his go-to place,” Mrs Gration added.

Harry’s son Harvey said his dad had been “incomparable” and an “extraordinary man”.

“He was always convinced no-one would know him. Yet even in the furthest reaches on a family holiday in Porto, the quietest island in the Florida Keys, or the northernmost hill in Scotland, there was always a couple from Barnsley or Whitby who approached him like they’d known him their whole life,” he said.

He added that seeing so many people turn out to pay tribute to his father was a testament to the man he was.

Fellow BBC Look North presenters Amy Garcia and Keeley Donovan were also among those to speak during the service.

Ms Garcia said: “I know what his family have organised for him is just really beautiful and I know he would be so proud of it.”

Ms Donavan described him as a “dear friend” who had a “knack of making everyone feel special”, recalling how he had officiated at her wedding in 2018.

Former fellow BBC Look North presenter Christa Ackroyd and ITV Calendar presenter Christine Talbot were also at the service.

Ms Talbot had earlier tweeted: “How appropriate that we say our final thank you and goodbye on Yorkshire Day.”

The Labour MP for Batley and Spen, Kim Leadbeater, also spoke, recalling the broadcaster’s “kindness and compassion” following the murder of her sister, Jo Cox MP.

The service was led by the former Archbishop of York John Sentamu.

He told the congregation: “It is very fitting to hold this on Yorkshire Day as he loved Yorkshire.”

Lord Sentamu said he had received an email from Harry Gration weeks before his death, hoping to organise a pilgrimage to Israel to “walk in the footsteps of Jesus”.

“When I learnt about his death, I said: ‘Cheeky Gration. He has now, in a greater light, walked in death in the footsteps of Jesus’.”

Prior to the service at York Minster, the funeral cortege travelled through the streets of the city and a large crowd gathered to watch it arrive at the cathedral.

Mr Gration joined the BBC in 1978 and Look North in 1982. He presented his last show in 2020.

He also reported for Match of the Day and Grandstand and commentated on the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games.

During his career, he won two Royal Television Society (RTS) awards for sports documentaries and he won the RTS Best Presenter award twice.

In 2013, his work in broadcasting was recognised when he was appointed MBE in the Queen’s Birthday honours list.

Source: BBC