BROKENHEARTED mourners have heard that tragically killed road death victim Leon Shovlin was a loving son whose life was cruelly cut short.
Leon (27), from Ardara, lost his life last weekend in a road tragedy alongside another man Caoilan Bushe (30), from Letterbarrow.
They were killed when their car was in a collision with another vehicle on the N15 near collision near Barnesmore last Saturday.
Leon’s devastated parents Corinna and father Alan Blanking were comforted during his emotional Mass today (Wednesday).
Leon’s funeral was at 11am the Church Of The Holy Family in Ardara while Caoilan’s is due later today at 1pm at the Church of the Holy Redeemer in Drimarone.
Mourners heard how Leon cared for his mother, who is recovering from a broken hip, and made her breakfast in a “very last act of love” last Saturday – just hours before his tragic death.
Church of the Holy Family, Ardara.
This morning’s Mass priest in Ardara, Fr Philip Daly, told Corinna and Alan: “We hope our presence is a support to you. Silence is really the only response to death.
“But when death happens tragically, as in the case with Leon, sitting in silence is inadequate.
“Sometimes it is all we can do when death strikes tragically. We have to wait for God to come to us and comfort us in our pain and sorrow.
“To comfort Leon’s mother Corinna and father Alan is our task, to wait in silence with the compassion of God at your side, so you that you can cope with the huge loss of your son Leon.
“For weeks and months to come, you will grieve and cry and remember the happier times of years gone by.
“God is right beside you and your brokenness. He knows the torture that you are going through.
“Tragedy always stuns us. This is always true when we experience the sudden death of someone we love.
“We are visible shaken as a community. That was our experience from last weekend here is south Donegal last weekend when we learned of the loss of two young lives.
“You wonder who the unfortunate victims are. Could they be a member of my own family? When we heard their identities, our hearts went out to Corinna and Alan and all the family.
“I didn’t know Leon personally, but I know as a young man, he spent happy years on the farm of his grandfather in Glenties.
“There is a beautiful photo of him as young as a young fellow, sitting up in a tractor when he was around four or five years of age.
“He lived in Dublin but came home to his mother in Ardara and his father in Derry. When I met his mother, she was brokenhearted, as you would expect.
“She said at least she had the comfort of him being home for his last few days.
“Leon heard that his mother had broken her hip while she was washing the floor and knew that he had to come home for a few days to help.
“His coming home to be with his mother was an act of love for his mother. Love makes everything lovely.
“This last act of love by being there for Corinna is a precious act to hold onto. His very last act of love was that he made her breakfast before he left home that Saturday morning.
“This will help his family to cope with their loss.”
Fr Daly added: “Leon now his own room in heaven. His family would like him to have his own room in Ardara or Derry.
“But we hope now that he is at peace forever in the arms of his grandmother and grandfather.
“His life was so cruelly cut short by tragedy. We also remember Caoilan Bushe, who also died tragically in the accident.”
Leon was buried in Kilraine graveyard, Glenties, and Caoilan is to be buried in Cranny Road Cemetery, Frosses.