He had battled cancer for three years.

Mr Short died on Monday, aged 66.

He had a long and illustrious association with the St John’s Anglican Parish, moving here in the mid-1980s.

He was ordained into the ministry as a curate before becoming the first and only person to be ordained as a priest/minister at St John’s Anglican Church in Bega.

Mr Short had a stint at Ashmont Parish in Wagga Wagga then moved to the Tuggeranong Valley, before returning to the Bega Valley.

Mr Short was rector of the St John’s Anglican Church for nearly 10 years, but stepped down in April 2011 after being diagnosed with bowel cancer.

However, that year, Mr Short told the BDN he was not comfortable with the idea of retiring.

He said leaving the parish ministry was a “huge wrench” (BDN, 14/10/11).

“I was really happy being parish priest and it was all I wanted to do even though there were opportunities to be more than a parish priest.

“I love Bega, the community and helping here,” he said at the time.

“It was such an incredible privilege being in people’s lives; probably the greatest privilege in ministry that I found was helping people who were dying and then assisting with funerals.

“So many people are paralysed with grief.

“If you can help them get through the process and make a difference in their life at such crucial times, it’s a powerful thing.”

Mr Short remained an active member of the local community and diocese.

Among his many achievements were helping to establish Ricky’s Place at St John’s and his involvement with Friends at Court and the Breakfast Club.

Prior to joining the church, Mr Short was an engineer and in 1971, he helped construct the F6 Freeway between Waterfall and Illawarra.

It was during this time that he fell in love with his secretary and field trips took on a whole new meaning.

Mr Short and his wife Jill went on to marry in 1973.

“Chris did a lot of good work and was a great bloke,” funeral director John Whyman said.

Good friend Jim Collins said “His death is a huge loss to the Bega community”.

“He was a moral leader with an open door for everyone,” he said.

“Chris was a forward thinker coming to terms with applying Christian principles to the problems in modern life.

“He was an inspirational leader for so many people.”

A service for Mr Short will be held at the St John’s Anglican Church on Monday at 10am, followed by a private cremation.

Mr Short is survived by his wife Jill, son Tim, daughter Rebecca, son-in-law Jamie, daughter-in-law Fiona, and grandchildren Hannah and Grace.