By Ivy Chai
KUCHING — The father of Kuching Archbishop Simon Poh passed away in Tawau, Sabah on 23 March 2025. Joseph Poh Tong Boo, aged 88, passed away in his sleep.
The Funeral Mass was held on 26 March in Tawau Holy Trinity Catholic Church, followed by cremation. At the Mass, Archbishop Simon preached that cremation is “returning to dust” as allowed by the Catholic Church and similarly, to treat the cremated remains with the same respect given to the body of a deceased person, as our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit.
The prelate brought his father’s ashes back to Kuching and celebrated a Requiem Mass for him at St Joseph’s Cathedral on 29 March, concelebrated by Archbishop Emeritus John Ha and priests from the Kuching Archdiocese Presbyterium.
The late Joseph’s cremated remains was later interred at St Peter’s Columbarium, placed next to his wife Geraldine Tay Huang Siew who died on 23 December 2023.
Keeping his faith till the very end
In his homily, Archbishop Simon said his father was devoted to Mother Mary and kept an old rosary prayer book and rosary he had used in Kuching. He asked for prayers for his father’s departed soul, adding he “kept his faith to the very end.”
He confidently offered to the Lord in prayer his “dad Joseph and all who believed in Jesus and have passed on,” assured by the Day’s Reading of the heavenly Father’s love and mercy for his baptized children.
He recounted the pride he felt on being told of his father’s faith in the Lord while in Tawau, despite several “life threatening challenges”. He never stopped praying.
Some of the Catholics had told Archbishop Simon that his father was very proud that he was a priest and bishop. He found his ordination card on his father’s table while going through his belongings in his office. He said he learnt from his father, “what it means to make sacrifices of love and to keep faith in the Lord Jesus to the very end.”
Sense of gratitude for parents
Carrying his father’s urn reminded Archbishop Simon of how his parents brought him into the world, and “as both my parents have carried me in their arms, now it is my privilege to carry dad into the Church and later to the Columbarium for interment.”
He recalled his parents’ initial reaction to his intention to enter seminary. Despite their earlier failure to comprehend why he wanted to become a priest, they gave their blessings and he “began seminary formation until I was ordained a priest.”
The Archbishop ended his homily and citation for his father with a quote he saw in a poster in a Tawau Church: “You have taught me to be patient, fair and to care about others. You have given me the strength to have faith in Jesus and to believe in myself. I am so blessed to have you in my life. I am honoured to call you Dad. I love you.”
At the conclusion of Mass, Archbishop Simon Poh thanked the priests, congregation and everyone who had contributed and supported him and his family during their period of bereavement.
