A Co Down couple who died just two days apart have been remembered as ‘inseparable in life and inseparable in death’ at a joint funeral mass.
James (Jim) MacKeever and his wife Anne lived in Dromore and family and friends gathered at St Coleman’s Parish Church on Monday to pay their final respects.
James MacKeever, who enjoyed a career as a renowned artist and sculptor, died peacefully at his home in the Co Down town last Tuesday morning, November 19.
Two days later on November 21, his wife Anne, who was originally from Belfast, also died peacefully. A funeral notice said she had “died of a broken heart”.
A death notice described the devoted couple as the “loving parents of Sarah and Ruan, and beloved grandparents to Perrie, Maisie, Ellsie and Ruby”.
At a joint funeral mass for the couple, Father Feidhlimidh Magennis told those gathered how the couple had met by chance at a dance, and were married in 1967.
“We gather to celebrate a long life lived together, a life summed up by their coming together here today. Death did not part them,” he told mourners.
“They lived together with a sense of beauty and value about the world around them.
“To walk into their home was to walk into a treasure trove of items that reflected the life they lived together, paintings, sculpture, so many pieces from the natural world.
”They were able to gaze across the Lagan Valley from their home on Ballymacormick Road. It gave them a long and varied life together with lots of interests, many delights and lots of memories.
“For many this will be seen as a tragedy, a double loss, a blow for family and friends,” he added.
“But it is a sign that death cannot separate us, cannot end our love for one another.
“As they were inseparable in life, they are inseparable in death.”