A young woman with a heart of gold who embraced life with great energy.
These were the words which so perfectly summed up Leeanne Grimley, who passed away at the weekend, leaving family and friends both shocked and heartbroken.
As Requiem Mass was celebrated in St Patrick’s Cathedral on Wednesday morning, Fr David Nugent offered his heartfelt condolences to them all, but particularly, Lee, her son, who “stood at the very centre of who she was”.
In a beautiful poetic reflection it was also assured that the family would look out for Lee in the days and years ahead.
Leeanne Grimley, from Longstone in Armagh, passed away suddenly on Sunday at the age of just 36.
She was a dearly-loved daughter of Colm and Deirdre, devoted mother to Lee and a loving sister to Eugene and Padraig, her untimely loss plunging the Grimley and Malone families and an entire community into mourning.
Fr Nugent, in a very moving Mass, said words often seemed inadequate when someone dies suddenly, while nothing could prepare a family for such heartbreak.
He added: “Leeanne’s passing at only 36 years of age has left her family, her friends, many of you here all who knew her, in a state of complete shock. Today, we gather to pray for Leeanne, and also to commend her to the loving mercy of God and, importantly, to support and pray for one another in our grief.”
Leeanne was the eldest of three children, born in December 1989, with Fr Nugent reflecting: “A first child brings with them a very unique joy, a new beginning, new hopes and new dreams, and Leeanne was that gift to her parents, Deirdre and Colm.
“Deirdre was recalling how Leeanne, as a very young child, was deeply loving. It was her nature, to really just love. She was attentive to all those around her, and especially her younger brothers, Eugene and Padraig, and she had a way of comforting others as well.
“That was because she was able to love with her whole heart, that sort of just spontaneous love that certain people have, and it’s a beautiful gift and quality. And these qualities, they reflect something of God’s own love. Very often we see it in a very unnoticed way, in ordinary ways, but the impact is there nonetheless.
“Her father Colm smiled as we were chatting the other day, and he said she had a heart of gold, but she was wild as a lion, and it’s a description that also captures something of her free spirit.
“Leeanne embraced life and she did so with great energy and she loved being with people. She loved to socialise. She also had a beautiful love for music, something that brought to her great joy, especially the songs of the Wolfe Tones.
“I was listening to the family speak about Leanne. There were also little quirks that made her very much herself, things that we remember when someone says to you, tell me a little bit about Leanne, something spontaneous comes. One of her brothers said she had a complete dislike of seeing people’s feet. Those are very small details, but they become part of those memories and treasured memories, because they belong to what is really unique about a person.
“Leeanne had multiple and many unique characteristics that we will all recall in our heart.
“There was one relationship, though, in her life that stood at the very centre of who she was, and that was her love for her son, Lee. The family spoke of how devoted she was as a mother. Her and Lee lived together all their lives and the love between them was so deep.
“Today our hearts go out especially to you, Lee, and no words can take away the pain that you are carrying, but we are praying for you, and we know that you are surrounded by a brilliant family and you’ve got great friends here as well, and also the support of this Parish.”
The celebrant told mourners it was God who understood all our sorrow and had promised never to abandon us, especially in times of great grief.
“Every one of us is a mixture of strengths and weaknesses,” said Fr Nugent. “We’re all full of beauties and also, there’s a little bit of fragility and brokenness in every one of us. There are chapters of our lives that we share openly and everybody sees, but there are other chapters, and they’re known really only to God. So none of us stands before Him with a perfect story to tell.
“We come as we are, but we don’t rely on our own merits in any way. We rely on His infinite mercy, and the Lord knows every joy that made Leeanne smile in a way that we don’t, and He knows every burden that she carried in her heart, every struggle she had to endure in this life, and every act of kindness that flowed from her loving heart.
“Everything she did, every love, especially those most precious, they’re all known to the Lord, those sacred things in our heart, and today we are here entrusting Leeanne to Him, to the one who knows her completely and who loves her perfectly.”
In a post-Communion reflection, a poem was read aloud which expressed love for a daughter, mother, sister, cousin and niece who meant so much to so many.
It spoke of sorrow and loss, but above all peace, love and hope.
Today, we let you go with love.
Though our hearts are torn in two.
No words could ever truly tell,
Just how much we will miss you.
You were ours, and always will be,
A daughter, a niece, cousin, sister and friend.
For in this family, love knows no limits,
And it never has an end.
We wanted only happiness for you,
A life filled with hope and light.
We would have carried every weight for you,
If only love alone had been enough to fight.
We couldn’t walk your journey for you,
But we walked beside you for as long as we could.
Now we choose to believe you found the peace that once seemed so far away.
No more heavy burdens on your heart,
Just everlasting light today.
Your greatest gift is your precious Lee,
Your love lives on through him each day.
We’ll hold him close, we’ll speak your name,
And make sure he never loses his way.
The world feels quieter without you.
Yet your love will still remain.
In every heart that holds you close,
You’ll live again and again.
So rest now, Leeanne,
Safe within God’s endless care.
Until the day we meet again,
We’ll find you in our prayers.
Leeanne’s coffin had been borne to the front of St Patrick’s Cathedral to the wonderfully moving words of ‘Here I Am Lord’.
And as she was brought from there and to the cemetery outside, it was most fitting that that beautiful ballad ‘Grace’, a popular favourite from the Wolfe Tones, accompanied Leeanne to her final resting place, the last words to ring out: “There won’t be time to share our love for we must say goodbye.”
