[ad_1]
Dr. Emer Feely, wife of medical director Tony Holohan, was “a ray of sunshine that could light up the most boring Monday,” her daughter said at her funeral Monday.
Dr. Feely, a public health medicine specialist and medical graduate from UCD, was diagnosed with a terminal form of blood cancer, multiple myeloma, in 2012.
She died peacefully Friday at Our Lady’s Hospice in Harold’s Cross, Dublin, in the company of her husband and children, Clodagh and Ronan.
Speaking at her funeral mass at St. Pius X Church in Templeogue, the same church she was married to 25 years earlier, her son described Dr. Feely as “truly one of a kind.”
“She was one of those people who had the ability to click with anyone she knew. He had such a sharp wit and his sense of humor was like no other, “he said.
Clodagh said her mother “embodied the word brave” since her diagnosis.
“We feel very fortunate to have had the privilege of having her as a mother. He was a warm, kind-hearted, loving, cheerful, funny, trustworthy and selfless person, ”he said.
“She was a shoulder to cry on, despite all the hardships of the last eight years. She always put others before herself. She always managed to put on a brave face. “
Dr. Emer Feely was a specialist in public health medicine with a degree in medicine from UCD.
Dr. Holohan described his wife as a “loving, caring, warm, witty and joyful person” who lived for his family.
“Because it was Clodagh and Ronan who kept you moving and in them, and in the people that they are, everything they have and will achieve in their lives, your greatest legacy will be felt. They were in elementary school when all this started. You guided them from there on the path from adolescence to adulthood, which was your goal from the beginning. You did it, ”he said.
“You amazed the medical professionals who cared for you and challenged their many predictions out of sheer determination to live as long as possible and do that for Clodagh and Ronan.”
He added: “Emer, you have been a part of my life since I was a teenager. Your death leaves a legacy and a void; a legacy that will never be destroyed and a void that will never be filled. We love you for everything. Bye, Emer. “
Mass celebrant Fr John Brown said Dr. Feely “has been taken from us too soon” and added that “she had so much more to give.”
Emer always had a smile. That smile is very contagious. It attracts you to their friendship. I first met Emer as a chaplain at St James Hospital. We share many conversations about his journey of illness and suffering, ”he said.
“Like any mother, she would have liked to stay and be with her family. She persevered as long as she could. She is now relieved of her suffering and pain. “
Father Brown spoke of the relationship of Dr. Feely and Dr. Holohan. The couple met while taking the same medicine class at University College Dublin, and their commitment to health, he said, proved they were “meant to be.”
During the offertory of the Mass, an instrumental interpretation of Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová was performed. Near the end of the ceremony, Debussy’s Clair de Lune was performed. Musician Lisa Hannigan performed A Prayer for the Dying at the ceremony.
Caroline Burke, aide-de-camp to the Taoiseach Micheál Martin, and Stephen Howard, aide-de-camp to President Michael D Higgins, were also on hand to “pay their respects to one who gave so much to our nation.”
Dr. Holohan took a break from his work duties last summer to help care for his wife after she entered hospice in early July. He returned to his duties in October.
Following the announcement of his death, several politicians, including Mr. Martin and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, issued statements offering their condolences to the family.
[ad_2]