Irish Sunday Mirror

A life lived in love.. and the heart of this family

Hundreds gather for funeral ‘celebratio­n’ of murdered Joanne

- BY EMMA MCMENAMY

Family wreath in funeral hearse nightmare I am sure over the last few days you have failed to wake up and realise it was just that – a terrible, terrible dream.

“Unfortunat­ely it’s not, it’s a reality. And you are left to bear this terrible grief, this terrible loss, this terrible pain. And it’s horrible.

“As I look at her brothers and sisters, you shouldn’t have to do this. “There shouldn’t be a casket in the church today. This family should not be here.” He went on to describe how important it was for Joanne’s Joanne Lee Coffin at St Cianan’s Church parents and mourners to remember their daughter at yesterday’s funeral as she was in life.

He added: “Actions such as this solve nothing, they only increase pain.

“But Catherine and Dermot were very anxious that this gathering in the church today would not be a commemorat­ion of the last hours of Joanne’s life but rather it would serve as a celebratio­n of her time alive.

“That was a life lived in love and the heart of this family essentiall­y.

“A family that loved her and whom she Joanne & Keith Lee loved in return. That love has been lifelong. There will be endless moments when you think of moments shared by her.”

The church also heard of her affection for her pet dog Ziggy.

A female singer sang Somewhere Over The Rainbow and Fields Of Gold unaccompan­ied by music.

Tears flowed among the gathered mourners as the songs echoed through the church.

Two white horses with pink feathers in their mane pulled the carriage with her remains to nearby Crossmacol­e Cemetery following the service.

A postmortem on Joanne’s body found that she had been strangled.

Meanwhile, gardai have yet to interview her husband Keith Lee, who was found with knife wounds, believed to be self-inflicted, in the back yard of a bedsit on Ranelagh Road last week.

He had apparently leapt from a thirdfloor window as gardai arrived to speak to him.

He also suffered multiple fractures, including to both legs and his chest.

news@irishmirro­r.ie

This family shouldn’t have to do this. They shouldn’t be here FR JOHN CONLON DULEEK YESTERDAY

 ??  ?? MUCH-LOVED HEARTBREAK POIGNANT TRIBUTE Yesterday’s funeral in Duleek, Co Meath
MUCH-LOVED HEARTBREAK POIGNANT TRIBUTE Yesterday’s funeral in Duleek, Co Meath
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TRAGIC PROBE

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