Joey Mitchell: Funeral today prays for son Gavin who was seriously injured in accident that killed his father on Garvagh farm

Leading the service, Reverend Canon Amanda Adams, Rector of Ballyrashane Parish told mourners that “Thursday 16th May must have started like any other day for the Mitchell family. Each of them had places to go and things to do and then about mid-morning, Thursday stopped being a day like any other – when tragedy came unbidden and unexpected”.

Canon Adams also spoke of Joey’s son Gavin who was seriously injured as a result of the same accident that killed his father – and asked the congregation to keep him and others affected in their prayers.

She added that the late Mr Mitchell, who was “almost seventy” had also suffered the tragic death of his son Brian due to illness in 2021 – “but to his credit Joey battled back and as soon as he was physically able he returned to work which was a tonic for him”.

She told mourners that Mr Mitchell had run a plastering business and was “a quiet man, quite a private man but had a keen sense of humour and very easily made friends”.

“Joey was well respected and his building skills were in constant demand, he was always ready to help,” she added.

"He loved working on farms and farmers loved to have his skilled help,” she added.

“The bonds of friendship that Joey formed were very strong and he will be sorely missed by a great many people in the farming community”.

Canon Adams said that Mr Mitchell and his wife Christine “were a solid team”.

"They were indeed a team,” she told mourners. “The Joey that I came to know was not complete without Christine.

"You were a solid team. In 2005 Joey married Christine in this church.

"It was through Christine that Joey, a Garvagh man to the core, managed to put down roots in Ballyrashane as well”.

She added that “Joey was also a devoted grandad and his grandsons enjoyed helping him around the farm – feeding the

animals learning to do odd jobs or simply playing in the fields”.

A death notice in Funeral Times says that a service of thanksgiving for his life was to be held in Ballyrashane Parish Church on May 21 at noon with interment in adjoining churchyard.

It adds that Joseph Henry Mitchell was the ‘dearly loved husband of Christine, father of Gavin and the late Brian, devoted grandfather of Troy and Jack and their mum Laura’.