Funeral to be held for woman with no known relatives despite social media appeal
A funeral will be held on Tuesday April 21 for Margaret (Peggy) Murdoch, who sadly passed away in hospital on April 9.
Ronnie Thompson Funeral Directors in Lisburn had appealed on social media for any of her relatives to come forward when it was discovered the lady, who resided at Lisadian House Nursing Home, Hillsborough had no known family.
The South Eastern Trust had no next of kin details for her and had asked the funeral director to see if anyone had any information.
It was known that she had lived in El Shammah Nursing Home Lisburn, Wilson Street Lisburn and Seacash Walk Antrim.
Unfortunately, despite the appeal, and a lot of support on social media, no family was found.
As a result the Lisburn funeral directors are holding a celebration of her life at their church on their Ballinderry Road on Tuesday April 21 at 2.30pm.
Posting on their Facebook account, a spokesperson for Ronnie Thompson’s said: “As many will be aware, we recently made an appeal for relatives or those who knew Margaret in any way, to get in contact. This appeal has been shared by tens of thousands of people. We wish to thank everyone who has been in touch with us.
“Although we have gathered some additional information, we have sadly been unable to contact any surviving family members.
"With regret, we feel it is necessary to proceed with the funeral arrangements without any known relatives.
"There have been many kind offers of financial support. To maintain transparency, we would like to let everyone know that a government agency is covering the cost of the cremation and Ronnie Thompson Funeral Directors will absorb all other costs.
"There have been volunteers willing to contribute to the funeral service and provide those services, free of charge, some of which we are now able to avail of.
"’The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members’ and so we would like to take this opportunity to again thank everyone most sincerely who have contacted Ronnie Thompson Funeral Directors with advice, support or information.”