SAYING GOODBYE
COMMUNITY’S OUTPOURING OF GRIEF FOR ELYSE
IN the words of her mother Megan, Elyse Miller-Kennedy was “so many things to so many people”.
“Brave, adventurous, carefree, loving, kind.”
Her beauty was undoubted with the teenager preparing to move south when she finished Year 12 and pursue her modelling dreams.
But the shock, sadness and heartache shown in a huge outpouring of community grief at yesterday’s funeral service at Mareeba showed it was clear she was far more than just a pretty face.
“Seventeen years ago you were born and you gave me life,” her mother said during an emotional tribute.
The St Thomas Catholic Church was packed, with mourners even filling the grass gardens alongside the building for a chance to say goodbye.
Elyse’s sister Rhyanna read a poem the pair penned this year entitled Sail Away.
“If you’re feeling blue as the sea, stay calm, look to the sky and breathe. If you feel like a boat adrift, raise your sails to the wind so sea,” she recited.
Her boyfriend Connor Barker also read out a poem he had written, speaking of her laughter, beauty and faith.
A slide show of pictures capturing her effervescent life
played out on a big screen set to a soundtrack of Beyonce’s
Halo and Alan Jackson’s Don’t Worry About Me.
Father John Sullivan led the service, speaking of the tragedy and sense of loss over her young death.
“There is a great, gaping hole in the hearts of those who loved her,” he said.
“We are thankful to Elyse for what she has given to her family and friends. Our lives will be darker without her.
“(But) tragedy cannot destroy the good we have done and the love we have given.
“We judge (life) not so much by its duration, but its intensity. Young people can pack so much into a few years (and) the number of years is not the true measure of life.”
Ms Miller-Kennedy died in hospital just over two weeks ago following a car crash on the Mareeba Dimbulah Rd.
A French tourist has been charged with dangerous driving causing death in relation to the incident.