John Doman obituary

When my friend John Doman, who came from a devout Sikh family, declared that he wished to become a Christian, the Irish missionary priests in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), where he lived, feared a backlash from his religious community. But John, who has died of cancer aged 68, persisted and was sent to Britain, to one of the Rosminian houses of the Roman Catholic Institute of Charity. There he further confounded his mentors by declaring that he wanted to become a priest.

One of six children of Nirmal Singh Dhoman and Dalip Kaur, he was born in Amritsar in the Punjab region of India, and named Harjit Singh. When he was two, the family emigrated to Tanzania, leaving the tense border between India and Pakistan. Once he arrived in Britain, the church authorities would not agree initially to his baptism, but he was not to be deterred and, given the baptismal name John, he began studying for the priesthood with the Rosminian order at Derryswood, near Guildford. As well as studying full-time, he renovated the plumbing in the community house and replaced many of the large windows.