The death has occurred of:
Samuel David (Sam) MACLEAN
The wife, daughter (and family) and brother of the late Sam Maclean wish to thank the many who have sympathised with us and supported us since his tragic death.
We express our heartfelt thanks to the emergency services for their prompt and professional response that evening. We are deeply, deeply grateful to the entire team at Jackson Stoops & Sons for the competent and dignified manner in which they hosted the wake and undertook the funeral. We are particularly thankful for Stephen’s gentle and wise advice at a time of great distress. We also thank Matthew Dougan for the important services he performed.
We thank Rev Robert McClure for conducting such a gracious and godly funeral. Sam’s funeral was exactly how he would have wanted it, and it brought us much-needed hope and healing. We thank Robert, and the other elders of 2nd Newtownhamilton and Freeduff, and their wives, for their faithful friendship. The church families of 2nd Newtownhamilton and Freeduff Presbyterian Churches, and the Kildrumferton Group of parishes in Co Cavan, have given us steadfast encouragement.
Many family members, friends and neighbours contributed to making Sam’s wake and funeral a fitting tribute. We were astonished to see so many from across Ireland, and England, who had made great efforts to be there. We thank the pallbearers (and Norman Pollock and others who co-ordinated them); the guard of honour; the organist; and the piper. The music and singing were glorious. We also thank the trustees of King George VI Memorial Hall for granting its use for the refreshments after the funeral, and Mountview Farm catering for their excellent work.
We have been overwhelmed by the hundreds of cards and online messages we have received; along with visits, phonecalls, flowers, gifts, and donations in Sam’s memory. The recollections of the many who knew Sam (especially from his working life and membership of fraternal organisations) have brought us great comfort. We only wish this most unassuming of men could have known the high regard in which he was held.
Life could not have continued since 13th May without the enormous practical help we have received, particularly from Oliver Hearty on Sam’s farm, for which we express our humble and heartfelt thanks. We have also been blessed by help with childcare, meals, gardening and much more besides. Our lives will never be the same again, and we miss Sam - our quiet mainstay - more than we can say; but we will always thank the LORD for Sam’s life, for all he was for us, and for the faith granted to him.
‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.’ John 10:27-28