The passionate hobbyist said he would “love to teach young people” the skill, but he couldn’t seem to get them on board.

His appreciation for stained glass began in Alsace, France where he was born.

There, an endless sea of churches are framed with intricate windows that are no less than dazzling works of art.

“Back in Louis XIV time, he executed all the led lighters and removed the led lights from all the churches,” Mr Witz said.

“Going back in history led lighters had a terrible time because priests were trying to put colour into churches, and some thought that was sacrilegious.”

These days, led lighters don’t have to worry about losing their heads, only take precautions for lead poisoning, but the skill is still rare.

Mr Witz said with the deterioration of churches and their windows, he could foresee a huge demand for people with the skills to restore the antique panels. 

“The leads are now perishing they all have to be re-leaded. There is 1000 years of work ahead for lead lighters,” he said.

He said the skill could take young people all over the world, restoring windows worth millions of dollars and would be useful to fix those that have sadly succumb to vandals.

Six to eight weeks ago a Nowra church had rocks thrown through the windows, but the money, skills and equipment to fix them in-situ are unavailable. 

“It’s terrible what they’ve done,” he said.

“I’ve suggested they just go and get measurements made and have protectors installed out in front of them to protect what’s left.”

For Mr Witz, a lust to create led lights began when he moved moved to Sydney and wanted to incorporate a window in the house he was building.

He heard a course was running at Nowra TAFE.

“People travelled from everywhere to do the course,” he said.

“The idea was to keep it simple. Don’t try to build Notre Dame in one day.”

Once Mr Witz got a handle on the skill and later moved to the South Coast in 1980, he began to run courses himself. Since then, he has taught many students and even run a course at Jim De Silva Farm for the schizophrenia fellowship.

“I guarantee every student before they start, they will bleed,” he said.

“Nine out of 10 students are ladies and I find they are far better at it than men because they listen to instructions.”

It’s expensive, a possible reason for its decline in popularity, with a typical quarter of a sheet of glass costing around $68, but its simple to do and therapeutic for Mr Witz.

“It teaches you patience,” he said.

“Once you know the basics anyone can do this.”

Ron Witz work was on exhibition for two weeks in Nowra in early October at the new pop-up gallery in Nowra, Gallery Envelope.