THE GREAT devotion and love the late George Crosbie had for his wife and family were recalled yesterday as friends gathered for a funeral Mass which celebrated the life of the former chairman of Thomas Crosbie Holdings, who died last Friday at the age of 83.
Mr Crosbie’s son Alan recalled his father with great warmth and gentle humour in a eulogy in which he touched upon his father’s antipathy to funerals, prompting many smiles among those gathered in St John the Baptist’s Church in Kinsale, Co Cork. “Over the years, Dad and I went to a lot of funerals together. He didn’t like them much – he hated them. He used to say to me, ‘When I go, I want no tears, I want no black ties, nothing morbid – just a bit of craic and I promise you I’ll be fine’ and Dad always kept his promises.
“We used to smile a little bit at funeral eulogies, fellows who were maybe okay golfers in his eyes, suddenly became internationals or guys who were okay sailors in his eyes, suddenly became championship winners, or ordinary guys in the space of five minutes became saints. He used to say things like: “He was a good guy but I didn’t recognise him from the eulogy.’
“Well, Dad was an international golfer, he was a championship sailor and many other things; thankfully, a saint he was not and I’m not going to try to make him one here now.
“Dad was a fairly complex guy with fairly simple tastes. Yes, he did all the high-profile stuff but what he really loved was to be at home with Mum and all of us. We all feel really loved by Dad but he loved Mum most of all and he was so proud to go out with her on his arm.”
Earlier, mourners heard Fr Robert Young say that the late Mr Crosbie, who resigned as chairman of TCH in 2001 following 50 years of service to the company, had brought the same Christian values that underpinned his love for his family to his life in business. Describing the late Mr Crosbie as “an all-rounder” who excelled at sailing, golf and rugby and was a gifted entertainer and musician, Fr Young said his sense was of Mr Crosbie as “a man who loved his family, each and every one of them dearly”.
Leading the mourners was Mr Crosbie’s widow, Joan, and the couple’s eight children, Anne, Jean, Alan, Susan, Patricia, Una, Paul and Phillip as well as their 16 grandchildren and other relatives and friends. Following other family members, Mrs Crosbie read a prayer of the faithful in which she asked for prayers for all those who had cared for her husband over the past five years in the Bons Secours Hospital, Kinsale Community Hospital, at home and at Haven Bay Care Centre.
The offertory gifts brought to the altar by Mr Crosbie's grandchildren reflected his wide range of interests and included a family photograph, a copy of the Irish ExaminerI , a golf club, a sailing pennant and a recording of one of the songs he penned.
Among those at yesterday's funeral Mass, which was concelebrated by retired Bishop Ray Boland of Kansas, were former chairman of Examiner Publications Ted Crosbie; TCH managing director Anthony Dinan; Irish Examinereditor Tim Vaughan and Evening Echoeditor Maurice Gubbins. Also present were former Fine Gael TD Peter Barry, his daughter Deirdre Clune TD and figures from the world of business including managing director of The Irish TimesLtd Maeve Donovan, Pat Dineen, Roger Flack, Dominic Daly, Manus O'Callaghan, Kay McGuinness and her husband, Dermot Mullane, formerly of RTÉ.