Andrea’s tears for JP’S Emma
TRIBUTE Andrea Corr sings at memorial service in Barbados yesterday for Emma Mcmanus, daughter- in- law of JP Mcmanus
A SON of horse racing magnate JP Mcmanus paid a heartbreaking tribute to his wife who died suddenly over Christmas at a memorial service yesterday.
Emma Mcmanus, 40, passed away in Barbados on December 30.
Fighting back tears, husband John told mourners at the service held on the Caribbean i sland: “Life has changed irreparably for us all.”
The mother of t hree had been enjoying postChristmas festivities with loved ones at the family’s privat e re si dence, near the Sandy Lane hotel and golf resort co- owned by JP Mcmanus, when she suddenly complained of feeling unwell.
Emma’s husband tightly hel d and hugged t heir t h r e e d a u g h t e r s throughout the service.
Family f ri end Andrea
Corr performed the Billy
Joel anthem She’s Always A Woman, saying: “I sang this song for Emma at her wedding ten years ago, so I will sing it again for her now, because she loved it.”
The star fought back tears as she also sang Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again, from The Phantom of the Opera.
Mr Mcmanus said: “No words can describe the pain and sense of loss that I feel since my beautiful Ems passed away. She was the very centre of our family and the person who the kids and
I turned to f or e v e r y - thing.”
He joined a small group o f r e l a t i v e s and friends who gathered at Coral R i d g e M e m o r i a l Gardens for the service, which was also watched online by several thousand. Casting his gaze towards the c oupl e’s b e l o v e d t hre e children Milly, Lauren and Annie, he said: “Mummy loved you to infinity and beyond. You were the first and last thing she thought about every day.
“She was so proud of you all, and loved the hugs and laughter that we regularly s h a r e d . A l t h o u g h w e cannot see her anymore, she will l iv e on i n our hearts. At any time we can look up at the sun, the moon, or the twinkling s t a r s a n d k n o w t h a t mummy i s there, looking down on us.
“Lastly, girls, you sometimes tell me I am the strict one. Well, my promise to the three of you today is that I’ ll be more like mum from now on.” In a touching love letter to his wife, Mr Mcmanus said he had “fallen in love with the most beautiful, kind and self less person I have ever known”.
He added: “Your smile and sense of fun will live with, and in me, forever, and our souls are intertwined for eternity.”
The couple’s three young children brought gifts symbolising their mother’s life to the altar, where a photograph of her was laid, including a paddle tennis racket, a Werther’s Original sweet and a cookbook.
Emma’s brother Nick Ledbetter told mourners: “She never did anything i n order t o get prai se, but always deserved it. Emma was elegant, loving, graceful, inclusive, intelligent, direct, fair.
“She had such a great sense of fun and the most radiant glowing smile which always lit up a room.”