LENNY TO BE LAID TO REST
The family and friends of the late Leonard ‘Lenny’ Hughes, St John’s Villas, will finally get the opportunity to saw their farewells today as he is laid to rest, four months after her was tragically lost at sea.
Lenny’s wife Brigid, mother Sarah and extended family were officially notified on St Patrick’s Day that the body found off the coast of Wales in recent weeks, was in fact the 49 year-old Arklow man.
‘I got the call on Friday and we started to make the funeral arrangements straight away. I’m barely surviving at the moment. I don’t know what to do with myself,’ said Lenny’s heartbroken widow Brigid.
She explained that having Lenny’s body returned to the family for burial will offer some comfort as not being able to have a proper funeral was a source of great pain for his loved ones.
‘From the start, I just wanted him back home and now that we do, it will give us some comfort because I know’s he’s at peace now,’ Brigid added.
After Lenny, who is originally from Oughill, Redcross went overboard while working on a fishing vessel on November 16, a widespread sea search was conducted for many days, but to no avail.
Weeks later, news that a body had been recovered in Wales offered hope to the Hughes family and just last week DNA tests finally confirmed Lenny’s identity.
Funeral mass will be said for Lenny at 10 a.m. this morning, Wednesday at Ss Mary and Peter’s Church, Arklow followed by burial at Barniskey Cemetery. Lenny is survived by his wife Brigid, children Rebecca, Mark and Breda, mother Sarah, brothers Mark, Paddy, Sammy, Moses and Jimmy, sisters Anne, Una, Briget, Bernadette, Lucy, Pauline, Elaine, Josephine and Julia, motherin-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.
May he rest in peace.