HUSBAND DISTRAUGHT AS SOULMATE IS BURIED
Husband distraught as 'soulmate' is buried
A SINGLE red rose rested on top of his wife's coffin as Laurence Rush came to bury his 'soulmate' at St. Mary's Church, Drumragh on Thursday afternoon last.
Mr. Rush had, earlier in the week, described the loss of his 57-year-old wife, Libbi, in the carnage of the previous Saturday's town centre bombing, as the start of a life sentence.
And, at her funeral service, parish priest, Rev. Michael Keaveney, said Mr. Rush had lost a good life companion, a devoted wife, who was a good mother, caring, warm and friendly.
He underlined the local businessman's loss as he said the couple's affection for one another had been more than that in an ordinary marriage.
"She represented what is finest and best in Omagh, and she was killed by the evil actions of some people who knew nothing about Libbi," Father Keaveney added.
Her funeral, he said, was the most sorrowful occasion the church had ever seen.
"For the last five days the eyes of the world have been on Omagh. It's the sort of notoriety we did not seek. The kind of fame we neither sought nor deserved," he went on.
Auxiliary Bishop of Derry, Dr. Francis Lagan, spoke contemptuously of the bombers who had visited Omagh to lure "babies, young boys, mothers and fathers to their deaths".
He continued: "'How dare you enter our lives in the manner in which you did. You came into our town with your instrument of death and destruction. We utterly despise you for what you have done.
"Shame on you for killing and maiming, shame on you for bringing so much pain and loneliness into so many homes."
Appeal
Then he made a direct appeal to the British and Irish governments.
"Please work together for peace and good. Don't promote your own sectional interest which could create a vacuum, which the bombers feel free to fill, or many may lose faith in you, and the political process," said the Bishop.
Among the many hundreds who attended the funeral which took place in heavy rain were Assembly First Minister, Mr. David Trimble, and his deputy, Mr. Seamus Mallon.
They heard Father Keaveney say the bombers tried to justify their deeds by appealing to some mythical cause, but, he said, no cause is worth this sort of mayhem.
"Such thinking is a thing of the past. We are into a new era. There can be no appeal to victimisation or old historical wrongs," he said.
Mrs. Rush, who owned the Pine Emporium, formerly Libbi's Coffee Shop at the lower end of Market Street, was buried in the graveyard, adjacent to St. Mary's Church.
She is survived by her husband, Laurence, sons, Anthony and Andrew, daughter, Siobhan, and her mother, Mrs. Ellen McCullagh
A SINGLE red rose rested on top of his wife's coffin as Laurence Rush came to bury his 'soulmate' at St. Mary's Church, Drumragh on Thursday afternoon last.
Mr. Rush had, earlier in the week, described the loss of his 57-year-old wife, Libbi, in the carnage of the previous Saturday's town centre bombing, as the start of a life sentence.
And, at her funeral service, parish priest, Rev. Michael Keaveney, said Mr. Rush had lost a good life companion, a devoted wife, who was a good mother, caring, warm and friendly.
He underlined the local businessman's loss as he said the couple's affection for one another had been more than that in an ordinary marriage.
"She represented what is finest and best in Omagh, and she was killed by the evil actions of some people who knew nothing about Libbi," Father Keaveney added.
Her funeral, he said, was the most sorrowful occasion the church had ever seen.
"For the last five days the eyes of the world have been on Omagh. It's the sort of notoriety we did not seek. The kind of fame we neither sought nor deserved," he went on.
Auxiliary Bishop of Derry, Dr. Francis Lagan, spoke contemptuously of the bombers who had visited Omagh to lure "babies, young boys, mothers and fathers to their deaths".
He continued: "'How dare you enter our lives in the manner in which you did. You came into our town with your instrument of death and destruction. We utterly despise you for what you have done.
"Shame on you for killing and maiming, shame on you for bringing so much pain and loneliness into so many homes."
Appeal
Then he made a direct appeal to the British and Irish governments.
"Please work together for peace and good. Don't promote your own sectional interest which could create a vacuum, which the bombers feel free to fill, or many may lose faith in you, and the political process," said the Bishop.
Among the many hundreds who attended the funeral which took place in heavy rain were Assembly First Minister, Mr. David Trimble, and his deputy, Mr. Seamus Mallon.
They heard Father Keaveney say the bombers tried to justify their deeds by appealing to some mythical cause, but, he said, no cause is worth this sort of mayhem.
"Such thinking is a thing of the past. We are into a new era. There can be no appeal to victimisation or old historical wrongs," he said.
Mrs. Rush, who owned the Pine Emporium, formerly Libbi's Coffee Shop at the lower end of Market Street, was buried in the graveyard, adjacent to St. Mary's Church.
She is survived by her husband, Laurence, sons, Anthony and Andrew, daughter, Siobhan, and her mother, Mrs. Ellen McCullagh
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/0372
Published Date: 27-Aug-98
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