Heartache as ‘much-loved’ mother Hollie is laid to rest
HUNDREDS of mourners yesterday attended the funeral of a ‘much-loved’ young mother found dead at her home.
Hollie Thomson, 28, died in the Greenan area of west Belfast on Sunday, September 11.
A large crowd followed on foot behind the mother-of-one’s hearse as it was taken from her home to St Michael’s Church.
Father Brendan Mulhall spoke about the beautiful and kind person that Hollie was and of the many lives she had touched.
‘Hollie was deeply loved, cherished and appreciated by everyone who knew her’, he told the packed church.
Friends said Ms Thomson’s family has been left ‘devastated’, and said that no one should have to endure ‘this type of loss’.
Ms Thomson’s partner, Chris Morelli, 31, appeared in court last week charged with her murder.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court was told an initial post mortem found she ‘died of suffocation with a fracture to cartilage in her neck’.
Mr Morelli has been remanded in custody.
Friends of Ms Thomson’s family have set up an online fundraising page to support her daughter, which has so far raised more than £10,000 (€11,400). A message from Ruby and Lauren, who said they are Ms Thomson’s sister Katie’s best friends, said the young woman’s life was taken ‘very suddenly and unexpectedly’.
It added: ‘Hollie was adored by all her family especially her sister Katie and her young daughter Ayla. Hollie always wanted to have a support fund set up for her daughter and did not get a chance to do so. Hollie’s family and circle of friends are devastated by her passing and anyone who had the pleasure of knowing Hollie will know how wonderful she was.’
A death notice online described her as a ‘much-loved mummy to Ayla, beloved daughter of Ray and Louise and loving sister of Katie’.
It said Ms Thomson ‘will be deeply loved and sadly missed’.
Ms Thomson was a classroom assistant in various schools, including Harberton School where she had worked for many years.
Colleagues and friends from Harberton formed a guard of honour before the funeral Mass.