War veteran with nobody left to mourn him was set for a ‘lonely funeral’… but now a Facebook appeal has ensured hundreds attended to celebrate his life
Stewart Cooney got the send off he deserved after a care home worker detailed his plight on social media
A 95-YEAR-OLD veteran has been given the send-off he deserved thanks to a kind-hearted care home worker.
Stewart Cooney, who fought in the Second World War, died in Leeds in June but, with no living relatives, he had no one to mourn him.
The former soldier – described as “lovely” and “cheeky” – lost wife Betty in 2008 and his adopted son Niall died in 2014.
But Dougie Eastwood, a trainer for the care service running Stewart's nursing home, was determined to make sure he was given a proper funeral.
He said: "We're in the world for such a short time. No-one deserves to go to the grave without being recognised.
"I asked one of the nurses about Stewart and she told me he had been in World War Two. He was in the Royal Artillery and served in Egypt and Sicily. It didn't feel right someone who served his country should pass by unnoticed."
Dougie got in touch with the local military barracks to see if they could provide any soldiers for the service and he appealed for mourners to attend through his local newspaper and social media.
In response he got 40 phone calls from people offering support.
He said: "Shops have rung up asking if they can send flowers. The Royal Legion, Royal Artillery among others have offered escorts. I'm humbled by how the army family and local community have come together."
One woman, Lynda Gomersall, wrote and delivered a eulogy after speaking to Cooney's carers and looked through old records.
She said: "I don't think anybody should go without recognition, especially soldiers.”
Soldiers from various regiments offered to attend the funeral – which was held today – and the Dundee man’s final journey was accompanied by a piper and an escort from the Royal British Legion motorcycle corps.
The coffin was taken for burial in Pudsey, West Yorkshire.
One organiser Martyn Simpson said: "We never let a brother go alone."
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Before the funeral, Lynda revealed: "Stewart was keen on music and he will leave the crematorium to Frank Sinatra's My Way, as he knew all the words.”
Over 100 people are now expected to attend the Scotsman’s funeral, including his former carer Janine, who found out it on Facebook.
"I think he would have really liked it, especially with the military people coming," she said.
"He would have liked to have chatted with them - he was so proud of his time in the army."
Stewart enlisted in the Royal Artillery in 1943 and fought in the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944.
He married telephonist Betty the same year and, in 1953, they adopted Niall.
Janine revealed: "He would talk about his wife a lot, he called her Barnsley Betty, as that was where she was from.
"He had dementia so he would sometimes get a little confused and think he had been out doing things with them.
"He was always pleasant and loved to sing. He would sing whole Frank Sinatra songs and get us to join in."
Stewart, who worked on weaving looms in a mill near Leeds after the war, died at Colton Lodges Nursing Home in June 2016.
The National Association of Funeral Directors says that less than one per cent of funerals are attended by no family or friends.
But Dr Rebecca Nowland, from Bolton University, who has studied the impact of loneliness in Britain, notes that older people "can get forgotten".
"I think this is partly due to our modern lifestyle. We are so busy now and don't have the cross-generational connections we used to have.”
