Tragic Nellie Geraghty will be laid to rest on Wednesday – without the ashes of her beloved husband.
Hundreds of people are expected to line the streets as the funeral of the 79-year-old widow takes place.
Nellie died after being mugged in a Shaw alleyway on November 24. She was clutching the handle of her missing handbag which contained the ashes of her husband Frank.
Her death sent shock waves through the community who joined police in painstaking fingertip searches to find the stolen ashes.
Despite combing the area for hours, they remain missing, and Nellie will now be cremated without them by her side.
A police escort will lead the funeral procession which will travel along Market Street, Shaw, from 12.15pm, followed by a service at Oldham Crematorium at 1pm.
It will be attended by hundreds of residents who have been touched by the pensioner's death.
There will be family flowers only but donations in Nellie's memory can be made to the Royal Oldham Hospital's intensive care unit, care of Robert Nuttall funeral services, 11A Milnrow Road, Shaw, Oldham.
A book of condolence has also been opened at Bits and Bytes computer shop, on Shaw market, for anyone who would like to pay their respects.
A 37-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder has been bailed until February 14.
Inquiries are continuing and police are urging anyone with information in relation to Nellie's death or the whereabouts of her missing belongings, to contact police on 0161 856 5448.
Alternatively you can pass information to the police anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
A GRIEVING family was banned from commemorating their dead mother on her late husband’s tombstone at Canley Crematorium – because of a grave records mix-up by council officials.
Labour leaders at Coventry City Council launched an investigation after council staff warned other families could suffer from the same mistakes due to staffing problems.
A brother and sister in their 50s were told they could not engrave their mother’s name or loving words on their father’s headstone after she passed away earlier this year.
It appears several Paphos mayor candidates considered that the Church is opposed to a crematorium for Cyprus, but both the Archbishop and the Bishop of Paphos have told me they believe it is a matter of individual choice - and neither would stand in its way.
The stumbling bock is unquestionably Central Government where, for several years, various Ministries have assured me the legal framework is “imminent” but almost a decade has passed with nothing emerging. However, a few months ago Law Commissioner Leda Koursoumba wrote to me saying legislation would be drafted in respect of funeral parlours, embalming, and crematoria before the end of this year.
FUNERAL directors from outwith the Borders have expressed an interest in using the region’s first crematorium which opened next to Waird’s Cemetery at Melrose on Tuesday.
Adrian Britton, operations director of the Bristol-based Westerleigh Group, confirmed the company had been contacted by firms both within and outwith the Borders.
He told us: “We’ve had enquiries from as far as south as Seahouses and many from Edinburgh, as well as across the length and breadth of the Borders, from Peebles and Langholm to the Berwickshire coast.”
FUNERAL directors from as far away as Seahouses and Edinburgh have expressed an interest in using the Borders’ first crematorium, which opened next to Waird’s Cemetery at Melrose on Tuesday.
Adrian Britton, operations director of the Bristol-based Westerleigh Group, confirmed the company had been contacted by firms both within and outwith the Borders.
He said: “We’ve had enquiries from as far as south as Seahouses and many from Edinburgh, as well as across the length and breadth of the Borders, from Peebles and Langholm to the Berwickshire coast.”