THE FUNERALS of two more of the six victims of last week’s air crash at Cork airport – both described as devoted family men – took place in Belfast yesterday.
The funeral service for Belfast deputy harbour master Capt Michael Evans was held in Sinclair Seamen’s Presbyterian Church beside Belfast port, while the funeral for businessman Richard Noble took place from his home in Jordanstown, on the outskirts of north Belfast.
Chief mourners at the funeral of Mr Noble, originally from Yorkshire in England, were his wife Allison and daughter Charlotte. His funeral was to Roselawn Crematorium in east Belfast. Mr Noble (49) worked for the Danwood Group, which supplies office printing equipment and engages in management consultancy work.
First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness also attended. Mourners at the service at the crematorium heard Mr Noble described as a “devoted husband and father”.
Two of the survivors of the crash, Laurence Wilson (51), from Co Antrim, and Donal Walsh (22), from Waterford, who attended the funeral of Mr McAleese on Monday also joined mourners at the funeral yesterday of Capt Evans, who was 51.
Outside the church they embraced Capt Evans’s wife Andrea who with her children, Darren, Dean, Rebecca and Jordan were the chief mourners.
Among the congregation yesterday were the SDLP Belfast lord mayor Pat Convery while President Mary McAleese was represented by Col Michael McMahon.
The harbour master of Belfast port Capt Kevin Allen said that Capt Evans, after first finding it difficult to make the transition from sea to shore work, ultimately loved operating at the port.
He recalled how with great commitment he helped ensure the success of the 2009 Tall Ships visit to Belfast.
He said Capt Evans and his wife Andrea were “soulmates” and above all he was a “family man”. He added: “For all that I can say about Michael as a professional, I will struggle to find words powerful enough to describe Michael as a husband and father. So I will use the words that Andrea has shared with me in the last few sad days: romantic, affectionate, soft-hearted, considerate, honest, supportive, fair, generous to a fault and many more. All the qualities that one could wish for in a husband and father.”