23/07/2025
Family Acknowledgement - Patricia Durnin
The family of the late Patricia Durnin (R.I.P.), Grainan Drive, Belmont, who passed away on 26th June 2025, wish to extend our deepest and most heartfelt thanks to all those who supported and sympathised with us during the recent heartbreaking loss of our beloved mother.
We are truly grateful to everyone who visited the wake, sent Mass and sympathy cards, brought flowers, made food, travelled long distances, and stood beside us in both presence and spirit. Your kindness carried us through some of our darkest days.
A special word of thanks goes to our extended family, neighbours, and friends who helped so generously during the wake, and who offered comfort and companionship to us all throughout Mum’s illness and final days. Your unwavering love and support meant more than words can ever express.
We would like to sincerely thank the staff at Clarendon Medical, where Mum not only received outstanding care, but also made lasting friendships which she cherished deeply.
To the Haematology team at Altnagelvin Hospital, we are deeply grateful for the long-term care, expertise, and compassion shown to Mum over the years, particularly during her recent health challenges.
Our heartfelt thanks go to all the staff of Ward 50, whose professionalism, expert knowledge, and gentle care brought comfort to Mum and to us during those precious final weeks. While there are too many to name individually, we are especially grateful to those whose connection with Mum was truly special. We also extend our sincere thanks to the wider North West Cancer Centre team, including staff from the Sperrin Room, for their constant kindness and dignity. We are also deeply appreciative of the many specialist staff involved in Mum’s care — including dietitians, physiotherapists, radiologists, and auxiliary staff — each of whom made a compassionate and positive difference during this difficult time.
To Mum’s dedicated team of carers from Strabane & District Caring Services, thank you for the respect, dignity, compassion, and humour you shared with her each day. You treated Mum as more than just a patient—you treated her as the warm, witty, and loving woman she was.
Thank you to Josie and her team at Flowercraft & Design for providing the beautiful funeral flowers, and for the many chats and laughs over the years that meant so much to Mum as a loyal customer.
We are deeply thankful to Pat Harley and all at Harley Funeral Services for their professionalism, compassion, and respectful guidance in arranging and carrying out Mum’s funeral. Their care, dignity, and attention to detail brought comfort and reassurance at a very difficult time.
A sincere thank you to Fr. McDevitt and Fr. Gormley for your comforting presence at the wake, and to Fr. McDevitt for celebrating the Requiem Mass. We are also grateful to the sacristan, altar servers, and lay ministers for their roles in the Mass, and to Rionach and Ben for the beautiful singing and music that added so much meaning and comfort to the service.
As it would be impossible to thank everyone individually, we hope this message may be accepted as a token of our genuine and heartfelt gratitude to everyone who helped mum and our family over the last few months and in those last very difficult weeks, we will always remember the kindness and how it helped us all.
In memory of Mum’s deep and enduring faith, and in lieu of a Month’s Mind Mass, we have enrolled her in the Perpetual Mass offered by the Association of St. Martin de Porres. She will be remembered daily in the prayers and Masses of the St. Martin Apostolate and the Dominican Order in Ireland. Mum held a special devotion to St. Martin throughout her life, and as a family, we take comfort in continuing that devotion in her honour.
Though our beloved Mum is no longer with us in body, the warmth of her presence still fills every corner of our lives. At 88, she lived a full and selfless life, devoted entirely to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren—her greatest joy and proudest legacy. Mum had a heart that made space for everyone, a sense of humour that lifted even the heaviest days, and a light that drew people to her with ease. Her laughter, her love, and her gentle wisdom touched all who met her. Though we miss her more than words can ever say, we take comfort in knowing that a spirit as bright and loving as hers doesn’t simply disappear—it lingers in the stories we tell, the memories we hold, and the love that binds us together. Her light lives on in us all.
Time slips past, but memories last….
With love and gratitude,
The Family of Patricia Durnin
