The mother of former Celtic manager Neil Lennon used to allocate money he sent home during his football career to help people less fortunate in her hometown, her funeral heard.
Mourners gathered in Lurgan yesterday to pay their final respects to Ursula Lennon, who passed away last weekend.
Addressing the mass at St Paul’s Church, Mrs Lennon’s daughter Orla said her acts of generosity, made anonymously over a number of years, summed up her mother’s caring nature.
Her son Neil, a former Northern Ireland captain, is manager at Rapid Bucharest in Romania.
He had returned home last weekend after his mother fell ill.
Mrs Lennon had been in Dublin’s Mater Hospital for a successful knee replacement operation but had suffered a cardiac arrest days after her surgery. She passed away following a second cardiac arrest on August 4.
Mourners were told how Mrs Lennon’s care for others and spirit of generosity saw her gift money to friends and neighbours in need.
“She was a gentle, kind and selfless earth angel,” Orla told mourners.
“Some people make the world a better place. My mum was one. She never saw her own beautiful presence and how it graced all our lives.
“She was our family anchor — solid, dependable, stabilising. She was a fantastic knitter. We were all permanently dressed in hand-knitted jumpers as children. I’m sure she knitted Neil his first football.
Read more
“In later years, when Neil became famous for something and was sending money home regularly, mum used to fill envelopes with money.
“She did it at night and would put them through the letterboxes of people that she thought were struggling to make ends meet.
“She would write on the envelope ‘from a friend’. If anyone here today received one of those envelopes now you know who your secret benefactor was.”
Earlier, those gathered had been told how Mrs Lennon was a familiar face around Lurgan, where she had worked as a secretary at St Joseph’s Primary School. She was also well known to customers in her parents’ shop in Edward Street.
“She had a PhD in humility,” Orla continued.
“Brilliant at things that mattered most in life. A real people person. It took her hours to complete the 20-minute walk from our house to the town. She had a word for everyone.
“The 45,000 likes on the Celtic FC tribute page showed she was probably even more well known in Scotland than in Lurgan.”
Ursula’s husband of 56 years, Gerald, was unable to attend the funeral mass due to ill health.
“Too ill to process what has happened, he will be spared the pain of knowing what has happened,” Orla added. “A goodbye kiss on July 15 was mummy’s final parting gift to him.”
Ursula Lennon is survived by her husband, their four children, Orla, Neil, Jane and Aileen, six grand-children and three great-grandchildren.
A private committal service will take place at a later date.