FRIEND TO ALL HAD AGELESS BEAUTY OF GENTLE AND QUIET SPIRIT
Friend to all had 'ageless beauty of gentle and quiet spirit'
A FRIEND to so many was how he Minister of Mountjoy Presbyterian Church, Rev. Ian Mairs, described Mrs. Ann McCombe during the funeral service. Mrs. McCombe died along with her friends and colleagues from Watterson's drapery shop, Veda Short and Geraldine Breslin.
Hundreds of mourners gathered for a service at the family home at Summerhill Park on Omagh's Hospital Road, after which the cortege made its way to Mountjoy Presbyterian Church - passing close to the scene of her death.
Many more mourners waited at he church. So massive was the attendance, many had to leave their cars on the main road.
The funeral service was conducted by Mr. Mairs and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Dr. John Dixon.
Dr. Dixon said he considered it to be a special privilege to be able to convey publicly to the McCombe family and the congregation his own personal condolences and those of their Presbyterian brothers and sisters throughout Ireland.
"I am confident of this; their thoughts are with us, their hearts go out to us, and their prayers are united with ours for you all who mourn today," he said.
Continued Dr. Dixon: "Though utterly sincere in expressing this sympathy, I am all too conscious of the fact that I and others are fallible and finite. Being so, we could unintentionally fail to fulfil all we promise and desire.
"So, it is with great joy I ask you to focus today on One who is neither finite or fallible, who is sympathetic towards us and gives us many promises, and who also is Sovereign so that He can deliver all He promises."
Mr. Mairs said members of the congregation met to mark the loss of their dear friend and congregational member.
Poignant
He said: "Many tributes have already been made to Ann, none more poignant than that of her husband, Stanley, who, during a television interview, spoke of Ann, his Ann, the woman he had known for 30 years and had been married to for 25, as his very best friend.
"Ann was just that to so many people - a genuinely friendly and caring person. Neighbours, workmates, church members, people on the street who stopped just to speak to me, have all alike been saying the same thing.
"When anyone was in trouble. Ann would be there to help. When anyone had a need, Ann would be there to do what she could to meet it.
"Undoubtedly, if Ann were alive today, she would have spent the last five days seeking to show love and to bring practical help to her neighbours the Wilsons, whose daughter Lorraine died, and the McFarlands, whose daughter Samantha also died.
"Ann was a regular member of the Presbyterian Women's Association. Another member said to me that the meetings would never be the same again. 'For us a light in our midst has gone out', she said.
"And Ann was a genuinely bright positive happy character, with a smile such as encouraged others to smile with her.
"Ann had a radiant beauty which was not dependent on her natural looks, on the tasteful way she dressed, or on the distinctive way she always wore her hair. No, Ann had what Peter described as 'the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is of the greatest value in God's sight'", Mr. Mairs said.
And Mr. Mairs said Mrs. McCombe was a faithful church attender who sang in the choir and particularly enjoyed the more informal evening worship services.
Bible
Mr. Mairs said he was grateful to the family for allowing him to borrow Mrs. McCombe's well used Good News Bible, which was filled with church service sheets and daily Bible reading schemes. In it she had highlighted many passages and had recorded verses from hymns and poems which had given her strength.
"On July 24 last year, not long after the death of her parents, she recorded these words under the heading Perfect Peace 'Oh the peace I find in Jesus, peace no power on earth can shake, peace that makes the Lord so precious, peace that none from me can take'", he told mourners.
He said the bomb which blew Mrs. McCombe off her feet blew her safely into the everlasting arms of God, where she remained at peace.
"I am sure the family would not want this occasion to pass without me recording, on their behalf, and on behalf of the wider community, my deep appreciation of the magnificent work which so many people have done since this tragedy burst upon us.
"I would like to pay tribute to the professionalism and efficiency of all who played any part in the immediate response at Tyrone County Hospital, or who treated patients at other centres; to the military personnel and the members of the RUC, with a special note of appreciation for the work of the community relations officers assigned, one to each bereaved family; to the members of the Press who have genuinely tried to relay something of the awfulness of this atrocity to the watching world; and to all those from the local community who have taken the time to call at the McCombe family home."
'Determination'
Mr. Mairs went on: "This was an offence against our community, and it has evoked a powerful response from our community. Undoubtedly designed to drive a wedge through this community, I believe time alone will show that this was the decisive act in unleashing a fierce determination from the people of Omagh to stand together as a community.
"I believe, as never before, that there exists a corporate will to work together to build a new community under the mantle of the new political structures which the vast majority of decent God-fearing, peace-loving people of this island of Ireland have voted for.
"We must commit ourselves to resist, and, as the people of God, to actively pray against, the activities of the demonic minority who are hell-bent on destroying us, our loved one, our community, our island, and our future," Mr. Mairs said.
He concluded his address by quoting a passage Mrs. McCombe had highlighted in her Bible; and said it should be her guidance to all who must live with the pain of her loss, and, in time to seek to rebuild their lives without her: "Trust in the Lord with all you heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and He will show you the right way".
A FRIEND to so many was how he Minister of Mountjoy Presbyterian Church, Rev. Ian Mairs, described Mrs. Ann McCombe during the funeral service. Mrs. McCombe died along with her friends and colleagues from Watterson's drapery shop, Veda Short and Geraldine Breslin.
Hundreds of mourners gathered for a service at the family home at Summerhill Park on Omagh's Hospital Road, after which the cortege made its way to Mountjoy Presbyterian Church - passing close to the scene of her death.
Many more mourners waited at he church. So massive was the attendance, many had to leave their cars on the main road.
The funeral service was conducted by Mr. Mairs and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Dr. John Dixon.
Dr. Dixon said he considered it to be a special privilege to be able to convey publicly to the McCombe family and the congregation his own personal condolences and those of their Presbyterian brothers and sisters throughout Ireland.
"I am confident of this; their thoughts are with us, their hearts go out to us, and their prayers are united with ours for you all who mourn today," he said.
Continued Dr. Dixon: "Though utterly sincere in expressing this sympathy, I am all too conscious of the fact that I and others are fallible and finite. Being so, we could unintentionally fail to fulfil all we promise and desire.
"So, it is with great joy I ask you to focus today on One who is neither finite or fallible, who is sympathetic towards us and gives us many promises, and who also is Sovereign so that He can deliver all He promises."
Mr. Mairs said members of the congregation met to mark the loss of their dear friend and congregational member.
Poignant
He said: "Many tributes have already been made to Ann, none more poignant than that of her husband, Stanley, who, during a television interview, spoke of Ann, his Ann, the woman he had known for 30 years and had been married to for 25, as his very best friend.
"Ann was just that to so many people - a genuinely friendly and caring person. Neighbours, workmates, church members, people on the street who stopped just to speak to me, have all alike been saying the same thing.
"When anyone was in trouble. Ann would be there to help. When anyone had a need, Ann would be there to do what she could to meet it.
"Undoubtedly, if Ann were alive today, she would have spent the last five days seeking to show love and to bring practical help to her neighbours the Wilsons, whose daughter Lorraine died, and the McFarlands, whose daughter Samantha also died.
"Ann was a regular member of the Presbyterian Women's Association. Another member said to me that the meetings would never be the same again. 'For us a light in our midst has gone out', she said.
"And Ann was a genuinely bright positive happy character, with a smile such as encouraged others to smile with her.
"Ann had a radiant beauty which was not dependent on her natural looks, on the tasteful way she dressed, or on the distinctive way she always wore her hair. No, Ann had what Peter described as 'the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is of the greatest value in God's sight'", Mr. Mairs said.
And Mr. Mairs said Mrs. McCombe was a faithful church attender who sang in the choir and particularly enjoyed the more informal evening worship services.
Bible
Mr. Mairs said he was grateful to the family for allowing him to borrow Mrs. McCombe's well used Good News Bible, which was filled with church service sheets and daily Bible reading schemes. In it she had highlighted many passages and had recorded verses from hymns and poems which had given her strength.
"On July 24 last year, not long after the death of her parents, she recorded these words under the heading Perfect Peace 'Oh the peace I find in Jesus, peace no power on earth can shake, peace that makes the Lord so precious, peace that none from me can take'", he told mourners.
He said the bomb which blew Mrs. McCombe off her feet blew her safely into the everlasting arms of God, where she remained at peace.
"I am sure the family would not want this occasion to pass without me recording, on their behalf, and on behalf of the wider community, my deep appreciation of the magnificent work which so many people have done since this tragedy burst upon us.
"I would like to pay tribute to the professionalism and efficiency of all who played any part in the immediate response at Tyrone County Hospital, or who treated patients at other centres; to the military personnel and the members of the RUC, with a special note of appreciation for the work of the community relations officers assigned, one to each bereaved family; to the members of the Press who have genuinely tried to relay something of the awfulness of this atrocity to the watching world; and to all those from the local community who have taken the time to call at the McCombe family home."
'Determination'
Mr. Mairs went on: "This was an offence against our community, and it has evoked a powerful response from our community. Undoubtedly designed to drive a wedge through this community, I believe time alone will show that this was the decisive act in unleashing a fierce determination from the people of Omagh to stand together as a community.
"I believe, as never before, that there exists a corporate will to work together to build a new community under the mantle of the new political structures which the vast majority of decent God-fearing, peace-loving people of this island of Ireland have voted for.
"We must commit ourselves to resist, and, as the people of God, to actively pray against, the activities of the demonic minority who are hell-bent on destroying us, our loved one, our community, our island, and our future," Mr. Mairs said.
He concluded his address by quoting a passage Mrs. McCombe had highlighted in her Bible; and said it should be her guidance to all who must live with the pain of her loss, and, in time to seek to rebuild their lives without her: "Trust in the Lord with all you heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and He will show you the right way".
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/0358
Published Date: 27-Aug-98
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