A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
Moderator: moderators
- brummie-leinster-man
- Enlightened
- Posts: 813
- Joined: January 29th, 2010, 10:29 am
- Location: Birmingham
A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
I just wanted to say a huge thank you to the OLSC for helping us give my Dad the send off he would have wanted.
He died at the end of September but because things are a lot slower here his funeral wasn't until the 10th October. During the interim I got in touch with OLSC and they were good enough to send me out some supporters flags including 2 of the big 5ft flags.
He looked great in the chapel of rest lying in his favourite Leinster t-shirt with one of the big flags over the coffin like a blanket. We carried him in to the crem with the flag draped over the coffin with a blue and white rugby ball made from flowers courtesy of a neighbour. His wish was that nobody was to wear black. His entire family wore Leinster or Ireland jerseys with every guest wearing their own rugby colours - Leicester, Worcester, Northampton, Scotland, England, South Africa, even my team mates of past and present clubs donned their respective colours. The vast majority wore Leinster and the rest of the flags were hung around the room we hired. Everywhere you looked you saw blue!
This was made possible thanks to the kind folk at the OLSC. He loved Leinster rugby and if he could have seen himself he would have been very proud!
I know its quite morbid but I felt like sharing the story of the day with true rugby fans. It was a more of a party than a funeral as we celebrated his life and love of rugby. A fitting send off for a proud Leinster man with a true passion for the game we love.
Thank you OLSC
He died at the end of September but because things are a lot slower here his funeral wasn't until the 10th October. During the interim I got in touch with OLSC and they were good enough to send me out some supporters flags including 2 of the big 5ft flags.
He looked great in the chapel of rest lying in his favourite Leinster t-shirt with one of the big flags over the coffin like a blanket. We carried him in to the crem with the flag draped over the coffin with a blue and white rugby ball made from flowers courtesy of a neighbour. His wish was that nobody was to wear black. His entire family wore Leinster or Ireland jerseys with every guest wearing their own rugby colours - Leicester, Worcester, Northampton, Scotland, England, South Africa, even my team mates of past and present clubs donned their respective colours. The vast majority wore Leinster and the rest of the flags were hung around the room we hired. Everywhere you looked you saw blue!
This was made possible thanks to the kind folk at the OLSC. He loved Leinster rugby and if he could have seen himself he would have been very proud!
I know its quite morbid but I felt like sharing the story of the day with true rugby fans. It was a more of a party than a funeral as we celebrated his life and love of rugby. A fitting send off for a proud Leinster man with a true passion for the game we love.
Thank you OLSC
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
Sorry for your loss. Glad your dad got the sendoff he would have wanted.
"Horrocks went one way, Taylor the other and I was left holding the bloody hyphen!"
~The Late Great Mick English
~The Late Great Mick English
- sarah_lennon
- Jamie Heaslip
- Posts: 15372
- Joined: April 19th, 2006, 4:14 pm
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
It's not morbid, that's lovely! Sorry for your loss but sounds like a very nice way to see him off!
Ici, ici, c'est Dublin 4
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
Absolutely agree. Sorry for your loss, BLM.sarah_lennon wrote:It's not morbid, that's lovely! Sorry for your loss but sounds like a very nice way to see him off!
"Yeah I been starvin' 'em, teasing 'em, singing off-key - me may my mo, me mo my may..."
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
Condolences. Sounded like a great send off.
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
Very sorry for your loss Brummie, but that sounds like a superb send-off and I'm sure your dad would have been thrilled!
I'm a bit young to be planning my funeral (touch wood), but that sounds like a send off I'd like to have too!
I'm a bit young to be planning my funeral (touch wood), but that sounds like a send off I'd like to have too!
Pro12 Champions, Amlin Challenge Cup Champions, British & Irish Cup Champions
- nelly the elephant
- Rhys Ruddock
- Posts: 2195
- Joined: April 13th, 2008, 4:29 pm
- Location: Gleann Fhaidhle, Contae Cill Mhantáin
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
+1............you all did him proud, a lovely story indeed.sarah_lennon wrote:It's not morbid, that's lovely! Sorry for your loss but sounds like a very nice way to see him off!
We all dream of a team of Sean O'Briens......
- brummie-leinster-man
- Enlightened
- Posts: 813
- Joined: January 29th, 2010, 10:29 am
- Location: Birmingham
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
Thanks folks, thought you might enjoy it. During the actual service we swapped the hymns for songs that reflected my dad. The priest nearly fell of his seat when we all sang over a version of "Monto" from a live Dubliners CD that boomed over the speaker system
We left him to the sound of an instrumental version of "Ireland's Call" and he was cremated as we belted it out at the top of our voices. The looks on the faces of the next funeral were priceless!
We did the auld fella proud
We left him to the sound of an instrumental version of "Ireland's Call" and he was cremated as we belted it out at the top of our voices. The looks on the faces of the next funeral were priceless!
We did the auld fella proud
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
Lovely story, thanks for sharing it.
Condolences on your loss but sounds like your old man went out in style.
Absolutely love the idea of a funeral packed with people in rugby shirts.
Condolences on your loss but sounds like your old man went out in style.
Absolutely love the idea of a funeral packed with people in rugby shirts.
- mtleinster
- Enlightened
- Posts: 968
- Joined: March 11th, 2010, 10:50 am
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
what a great celebration of life, rather than grieving for death.
Les chances que Sexton vienne en France sont infimes
- leinsterfan100
- Knowledgeable
- Posts: 314
- Joined: January 31st, 2009, 4:43 pm
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
sorry for your loss brummie. lovely idea for the funeral though
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
Fabulous send-off, really touching.
Condolences on your loss.
Condolences on your loss.
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
So sorry for the loss of your Dad but what a lovely story. RIP
There isn't winning or losing in rugby - only surviving.
"The pub is as much a part of rugby as is the playing field"
"The pub is as much a part of rugby as is the playing field"
- sheepshagger
- Leo Cullen
- Posts: 12045
- Joined: January 24th, 2006, 12:47 pm
- Location: The nearest KFC licking my fingers
- Contact:
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
+1sarah_lennon wrote:It's not morbid, that's lovely! Sorry for your loss but sounds like a very nice way to see him off!
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
What a lovely story.
Tell us Brummie, did your Dad get to go to many of the big games? Twickers, Cardiff, Murrayfield, big games in Dublin etc? He must have loved Leinsters recent successes.
Tell us Brummie, did your Dad get to go to many of the big games? Twickers, Cardiff, Murrayfield, big games in Dublin etc? He must have loved Leinsters recent successes.
You know I'm going to lose,
And gambling's for fools,
But that's the way I like it baby, I don't want to live FOREVER!
And gambling's for fools,
But that's the way I like it baby, I don't want to live FOREVER!
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
Sorry for your loss chief. Sounds like a great send off.
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
Sorry for your loss but a lovely story - thanks for sharing
- TerenureJim
- Shane Jennings
- Posts: 5316
- Joined: May 5th, 2009, 10:09 am
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
Sorry for the loss, truly great send off.
- Vamos los azules
- Mullet
- Posts: 1836
- Joined: April 15th, 2009, 11:17 pm
Re: A Very Blue Send-Off....Thanks OLSC
That sounds like an excellent idea for a funeral.
"You can’t defend like the boss one week and the cookie man the next".