Farewell to a ‘charmer’
FINAL FAREWELL HELD FOR VICTIM OF MANCHESTER ARENA BOMB
HE was a kind and caring man whose life was cruelly cut short after a family day out in Manchester.
Now hundreds of mourners have said their goodbyes to Philip Tron at a service at St Mark’s Church in Gateshead.
Philip died in the bomb blast after he went to pick his stepdaughter Courtney Boyle up from the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena.
Mourners watched as the coffin, adorned in white flowers, was carried into the church and a gin cocktail-themed floral tribute was brought into the service.
The Top Gun theme tune played at the start and close of the service, which was led by Rev Richard Bainbridge.
His family referred to the devastation of losing Philip as a “nightmare” in the order of service.
The order of service featured a photo of Philip as a smiling youngster with other members of his family nicknamed The Famous Five.
Ed Sheeran’s Perfect echoed through the historic church before the congregation joined in prayers of thanksgiving.
Mourners kindly donated to the Red Cross One Love Manchester appeal fund and the Swan Bereavement Nurses in Manchester.
Philip’s family said: “Their dedication in caring for us as a family has kept us going through this nightmare.
“This is our way of saying thank you and helping others as Philip always did in life.”
After the Manchester attack Philip’s family desperately searched for him and Courtney Boyle.
Days after the blast Philip, 32, from Gateshead was confirmed dead and in tributes he his distraught family described him as a “caring man”. They said: “Philip was such a caring man and would do anything for anyone. He was funny, thoughtful, loving and such a charmer. He also absolutely doted on his family. He would light up a room with his humour and for the past six months or so had been so happy with his job and personal life. “It feels like a light has been switched off in our lives and we miss him unbelievably.” Philip was working as a water conservation engineer at Cenergist, when he died, a job his family said he “loved”.
The 32-year-old had spent a family day out in Manchester with his mum, partner Deborah Hutchinson, and his partner’s children on May 22.
He was caught up in the atrocity as he went to collect Courtney from the concert.
The 19-year-old Leeds Beckett University student was laid to rest at a service at Saltwell Cremetorium last Friday.
Teenage sweethearts, Liam Curry, 19, and Chloe Rutherford, 17, from South Shields, also died in the blast.
Their joint funeral was held at St Hilda’s Church in South Shields on Thursday.
It feels like a light has been switched off in our lives and we miss him unbelievably. Philip’s family