Randalstown crash victim '˜a good person with a loving heart', mourners told
Lorraine (56), who was from the Antrim area, and work colleague Michelle McStravick (35), from Randalstown, both died in the crash.
Addressing the congregation at her funeral service in St Comgall’s Church, Antrim, on Friday, Fr Sean Emerson said he knew Lorraine as the “lollipop lady” for St Comgall’s Primary School in the town.
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He said: “On a few occasions I had witnessed her giving a steely stare to motorists that had encroached too far on to the Crossing as she protected the children and ensured their safety.
“Lorraine always greeted me with a warm smile and an enquiry how I was keeping. I knew her to be a generous person, always willing to help. I knew that she had a strong sense of fair play and this may explain her involvement in the Union as a representative. She was a person with a good heart, as many of you will know.
“A busy woman as her many different roles in the school for the last 28 years demonstrate, first as a volunteer and then as a member of the staff. However, she was not a shrinking violet and could be a bit ‘bossy”. But you would have to say that Lorraine was a good person with a loving heart.”
Pointing out that Friday was the ‘feast of St Martha’, who he described as “a woman in the Scriptures who was always busy, doing a number of jobs at different times, looking after her family, caring for them, always trying to do the right thing”, Fr Emerson said there was a lesson to be learned from her.
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“Being busy is a part of life for most of us. Let us not forget to take time with those we love,” he said.
He added: “Lorraine was a busy woman, with many irons in the fire. But she did believe in God.
“And so today because of her good deeds, her generosity and her loving heart it is with confidence that we commend her to God’s care in heaven.”
Both Lorraine and Michelle worked as care assistants for Homecare Independent Living in Coleraine.
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The pair had been travelling in a grey coloured Citroen C1 car which was in collision with a silver coloured Ford Focus at the Moneyrod Road junction.
A man and woman travelling in the second car sustained non-life threatening injuries in the incident.
Ms McStravick, who had a teenage daughter, Cliodhan, and was well known as a fitness instructor and bodybuilding competitor, was laid to rest on Thursday following her funeral Mass in St MacNissi’s Church, Randalstown.