Gerisagreatloss tohisfamilyand community
“HAPPY are those who die in the Lord! Happy indeed, the Spirit says; now they can rest forever after their work, since their good deeds go with them’.” A reading from the Book of the Apocalypse [14:13]
The more joy someone brings in life surely means the more sorrow felt when they leave...
It seemed there were twice as many people standing outside as were packed into St Michael’s Church in Clogherhead last Wednesday morning, as family, friends and colleagues of Ger de Loughry gathered to say farewell to the popular man who died suddenly the previous week.
Representatives of the Kilkenny native’s many local sporting and community involvements, including Dreadnots GFC, Boyne Rugby FC and Drogheda Rotary Club, all paid tribute to a man they were proud to call a mentor and friend.
His son David and daughter Gilly made the heartbreaking journey from their adopted home in Australia, to comfort their mother Derry at this dreadful time, and David spoke with tenderness and sorrow at the loss of his beloved father.
“Although he has been taken from us too soon, we look back and have such amazing memories we made together, like building sandcastles, playing touch rugby on the beach, chasing each other on the slopes and in later years, having a pint together after the match,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion. “Dad was not just an amazing father and an amazing husband, he was our best friend; someone we could turn to for advice in any aspect of life.”
He said they were all ‘ beyond heartbroken’ at the hole he has left in their lives.
“Gilly and I never had to wonder how proud Dad was of us, as he let us know every day,” he continued.
“It was with immense pride and honour that Dad not only had such an impact on our lives, but on the lives of many others whose paths he crossed.”
Known throughout his adopted county of Louth for his generosity of spirit and time, his sense of humour and fun was also legendary, as well as his passion for sport.
“He was always a great man for a joke and a laugh, with his crazy play on words, asking to pass the Mary Banoffi pie at Christmas,” added David with a gentle smile. “He was a very accomplished sportsman, and undoubtedly his proudest moment was winning the Barton Cup in 1977 with Kilkenny, with his brother Dave. In all the 26 years I’ve known Dad, I’ve still never beaten him at golf!”
The shock of Ger being taken so suddenly from this world was something Fr Michael McVeigh said would be hard for his family to understand, given he was so full of life.
“He was doing all the time,” said the parish priest. “Even when he retired from the bank in Drogheda at 55, he became a physio and was very involved with the Dreadnots here, and Boyne Rugby Club, and you’ll know from the request for donations to Meals on Wheels of his great involvement there.”
Indeed, he was presented the Paul Harris award for “Service above Self ” by the Rotary Club of Drogheda, where he was a past president.
The final words were left to his daughter Gilly, before Ger De Loughry was carried from the Church past a guard of honour of Boyne rugby and Dreadnots players to his final resting place in Foulkstown Cemetery, Kilkenny.
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.
By Mary Elizabeth Frye