Tears for our 'lass from the telly'
Son’ s emotional tribute as city and celebrities say final farewell to‘ Sunderland’ s Rose’ Denise Robertson
Denise Robertson returned home for her last farewell as Sunderland turned out to show its love for a local girl with a heart of gold.
Hundreds lined High Street West as they watched mourners arrive to pay their respects to the 83-year-old, known for her role as an agony aunt on ITV show This Morning, and as an author and charity champion.
After an hour-long service at Sunderland Minster, Wearsiders delivered a round of applause as she was taken to Sunderland Cemetery in Grangetown for a private burial.
The funeral of Denise, who died on March 31 after a brave battle with pancreatic cancer, brought together her devoted family, presenter colleagues from the ITV show and fellow ambassadors of the city, including Mayor Barry Curran and wife Carol, and Sunderland AFC commercial director Gary Hutchinson and former skipper Kevin Ball.
Eamonn Holmes, who attended with wife Ruth Langsford and their fellow This Morning hosts, led the tributes, with the couple and their colleagues Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield broadcasting for part of the show from the grounds of the church and inside the minster, as viewers joined them in paying their respects.
Eamonnn, who supports Manchester United, called her “the matriarch of studio eight” and also spoke of how they would enjoy banter, especially about football, as Denise was a dedicated Sunderland AFC fan.
The twice-widowed great-grandmother, who won a place in millions of This Morning viewers’ hearts with her no-nonsense, yet warm approach to helping countless people, worked on the daytime show since its start in 1988.
Mourners were welcomed into the church to the sounds of La Mer, by French singer-songwriter Charles Trenet, before The Reverend Canon Sheila Bamber welcomed them to the Minster.
The congregation sang Amazing Grace, listened to a eulogy by Denise’s son Mark and then heard Eamonn Holmes deliver a tribute on behalf of colleagues.
Alongside further prayers and hymns, the poem Words For It by Julia Cameron was read, with the service coming to a close with the William Blake hymn Jerusalem.
After a commendation, farewell message and blessing, mourners filtered out to the sounds of Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong.
Rev Sheila told the Echo: “She’s clearly much loved by the people of Sunderland as well as people across the country, so people tell me all sorts of lovely stories about how they knew her, about how she tackled her early life and all the difficulties she had, about how her family are wonderful and she was clearly at the heart of her family, and the family were at the heart of her.
“That’s what gave her the strength and the inspiration for all the wonderful things she has done.”
She spoke of how Denise always wanted to come back to the city, never missed the opportunity to mention Sunderland and her home region.
She said she was a “fantastic ambassador” for the area.
“Her family have been absolutely bowled over by the messages of condolence and the memories that have come up,” she added.
“In a way today is very much about holding a day for the family, because this is somebody who was their life in a way that the rest of us were able to share.
“So we do need to honour the family and their wishes because this is a sad day for all of us, but especially for them.”
Denise, who attended Sunderland High School and was awarded an MBE a decade ago, lived in East Boldon and was also a former resident of Seaham.
She was involved in many charities, with donations in lieu of flowers yesterday donated to the Bubble Foundation.
She leaves her third husband Bryan Thubron, who was a childhood sweetheart she met again in later life, son Mark and stepchildren David, Peter, Phillip and the late John.
She was receiving treatment at London’s Royal Marsden Hospital when she died.
“She’s clearly much loved by the people of Sunderland” REV SHEILA BAMBER