Town saddened by passing of a 'Florence Nightingale' figure
Elizabeth Behan, (nee Gee) 1921-2010
Elizabeth Behan of Carrickbeg, always affectionately known by her maiden name Lizzie Gee, died on June 9 at South Tipperary General Hospital, Clonmel.
Though she had been ill for some time, Lizzie's death occasioned not only the grief of family and friends but also a genuine sense of loss and sorrow in the community at large.
She was held in the highest regard by all and her unfailing kindness to neighbours and anyone in need was a byword in Carrick.
Lizzie was one of five children of Paddy and Maggie Gee (ne Norris), with siblings Patrick, Johnny, Mickey and Peggy (Power). Patrick ("Podens") accidentally drowned in the Suir in 1954. That tragedy of her brother's death was one of the crosses Lizzie was to bear with characteristic fortitude during her life.
In 1949, Lizzie married Paddy Behan, whose father Jimmy Behan had come to Carrick from Dublin in the early 1900s to become a live-in apprentice hairdresser with the Carrolls of Bridge Street — in due course setting up as a barber at his own home in Old Waterford Road, Carrickbeg.
Paddy Behan and Lizzie lived at 36 St Molleran's, where she would spend the rest of her life and earn the deeply affectionate admiration of all her neighbours. The couple had two children: Jim, born 1955, was a special needs child and was followed by Margaret. Lizzie would lose her husband Paddy with his sudden death at the age of 53 in 1971, and nineteen years later her son Jim at the age of 35 in 1990.
After her husband's death, Lizzie's courage and qualities again came to the fore. Circumstances required her to return to work again at the Carrick Tannery (where she had worked before her marriage) while her daughter Margaret, still at school, helped care for her special needs brother Jim.
Lizzie later worked at her cousin Annie Conway's shop at Well Road — for which she baked the brown bread — and Margaret worked there also. Their cousin Annie Conway was always part of the family and a constant visitor to their home and Margaret, who inherited many of her mother Lizzie's qualities, was already learning to drive Annie's car by the time she was 14.
Though Lizzie Gee suffered more than her share of life's challenges and blows, they did not overwhelm her. She was a strong, hard working and courageous woman, handsome and outgoing, fond of the company of friends and neighbours, delighted to share or organise excursions, social gatherings, picnics or trips.
Everything she did was marked by the kindness of her nature and her instinct to help those in need. Her grandchildren were especially devoted to her, and she to them, and she felt particularly blessed to have seen the arrival of a great-granddaughter, Aoibhe, before she died.
Lizzie went many times to Lourdes, caring for the sick and her son Jim. When no longer able for the pilgrimage, she sent her daughter Margaret annually in her place, and had planned it for this year also. For close on the last eight years of her life Lizzie had Catherine Lonergan, ne Clancy, as a truly dedicated carer to whom she was devoted and most grateful. Margaret's husband Ger McCarthy is noted for having been as close to Lizzie as a son and over the last twenty years regularly drove her with her cousin Annie Conway to Tramore and elsewhere.
The funeral Mass for Lizzie Gee was celebrated by Fr Tom Flynn PP on June 11 at St Molleran's. Fr Flynn emphasised how much the goodness and kindness of her life taught and touched all those around her. He quoted a neighbour's description of her as a "Florence Nightingale" figure whose good deeds were always done without fuss or show. The core of Lizzie's life was about giving to others — family, community or anyone in need.
Amongst Lizzie's kin attending her funeral were her nieces from London, Mrs Alice Morgan, ne Gee, and Mrs Margaret Lazenby, ne Gee. Participants in the liturgy included Maria, Robert, Clair and Kate McCarthy, Susan Brosnan and Marie and Sinead Power, with music by Mala Raggett.
Maria McCarthy, Lizzie's granddaughter, also spoke from the altar a heartfelt expression of loving remembrance and gratitude which touched the congregation deeply.
Lizzie Gee was borne to her earthly resting at St Mary's Cemetery. She leaves a legacy of remembered goodness to inspire all those who knew her and her spirit inspires and guides those loved ones she leaves behind. May she rest in eternal peace and fulfilment.
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Weather for Clonmel
Wednesday 08 February 2012
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Light rain
Temperature: 4 C to 6 C
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