Hundreds attend funeral of popular Co Armagh man Jim Wilson

Rev Rosie Diffin, who conducted Mr Wilson’s funeral at Saint Aidans Parish Church, Kilmore outside Portadown, said: “Jim Wilson was a highly respected member of the local community and his death as a result of a heart attack last Friday has devastated his family and friends.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with them in this time of grief.”

During the service Rev Diffin paid tribute to Mr Wilson’s commitment to family, friends and the wider community.

“The esteem in which Jim was held by the community is evidenced by the number of people who have come here today to offer their support to Jim’s family,” she said.

Rev Diffin said Mr Wilson’s daughter Suzanne read a poem ‘The Broken Chain’ “in tribute to her father’s commitment to his family”.

She added: “His daughter Mandy read Psalm 139 and his daughter-in-law Krystina read Matthew 5 v1-8.”

After the service Mr Wilson was buried in the adjacent graveyard.

A death notice in Funeral Times said Mr Wilson – who had lived in Portadown and died on July 1 when driving through Richhill – was the “husband of Anne” and “dear father of Simon. Mandy, Mark, Nicky, Matthew, Suzanne, Victoria, Lisa and James”.

Mr Wilson had been one of the founders of Richhill AFC.

UUP councillor Jim Speers, who attended Mr Wilson’s funeral, said: “I had known Jim very well. It was a massive funeral which I followed from his house to the church.

“Jim had a big personality and would never have gone past you without speaking.

“He hadn’t been well in recent years, but had worked hard earlier in his life as a cabinet maker and then in latter years as a caretaker of the FE college in Armagh. He was a very decent fella and popular because he was always joking and jolly.

“He will be badly missed by all who knew him.”