Profound sadness at passing of young Tullamore mother
The executive of Tullamore Show led tributes this week to a young mother-of-three from Spollanstown, whose untimely passing has been greeted with a profound sense of shock and sadness.
Elaine Healion (née Halloran) passed away at the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore on Monday surrounded by her loving family, after a short illness bravely borne. She was daughter-in-law of the late Sean Healion, who was one of the founding members of Tullamore Show and its first chairman.
Poignantly, Tullamore Show held one of its most successful shows ever on Sunday last, and show chairman, John Keena, secretary Chelsey Cox McDonald and all the team at the show extended their sincere sympathies to Elaine Healion's devastated husband, Derek, their three daughters and the extended family. “May she watch over you all from high above and now rest in peace”, the tribute said.
The late Elaine Healion, who was in her 40s, worked in the oncology department of Tullamore hospital, where she was hugely respected and admired by her colleagues for her empathy, her sense of fun and her willingness to help others.
The huge volume of online tributes from her colleagues bore ample testimony to the esteem in which the young mother was held by everyone she came into contact with. One tribute from her colleagues in the Oncology Haematology department recalled how she was “always elevating spirits with her bright smile and positivity”.
A tribute from Offaly Centre for Independent Living described the late Elaine Healion as always being “ready to help, with nothing ever too much trouble” and added that she met everyone “with a smile and a laugh, and her kindness touched so many – the world is a little dimmer without her light.”
Tributes were also paid from two local primary schools where her daughters are pupils, with Principal of St Joseph's NS. Brigid Clear and staff describing her as “such a lady and adding that she “adored her family” while the Principal of St Philomena's NS, Geraldine Gaffey, also expressed the “heartfelt condolences” of the school community to her husband and family.
The late Elaine Healion is survived by her beloved husband Derek, her cherished children Leah, Katie, and Emily, her parents John and Imelda, brother Jason, sister Melissa, nieces, nephews, her aunt, uncles, mother-in-law Maureen, sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, as well as her many colleagues and wonderful friends. She will be laid to rest today (Friday, August 15) following Funeral Mass in St. Colman's Church, Mucklagh at 12 noon.