Farewell at St Matthew's

The funeral of Gregory Thomas Lahey and Philippa Rose Lahey was held at St Matthew's Church in New Norfolk, the church in which they had married nineteen years earlier. The building was full well before the service began, and the crowd extended into the churchyard, where the service was relayed through the open doors.

The congregation drew on every part of the couple's lives. Colleagues from the Department of Public Works sat with social workers from Family Support Services. Several of the families Pip had worked with over the years attended, some of whom had never met each other or the Lahey family. Both branches of the Lahey family were present in full: Thomas and Margaret with all seven of Greg's surviving siblings, and Patrick and Jane with Pip's brothers Nicholas and Solomon and her sister Fiona.

Engineers spoke of Greg's patience with junior staff and his refusal to cut corners on a site. A colleague from Family Support Services spoke of Pip's habit of going back to check on families long after their files were closed. Greg's nephew James Longey, seven years old, read a short poem he had written himself about his Uncle Greg, who had taught him that building things meant building futures. His mother Linda stood behind him while he read it.

Sarah Lahey had told her grandmother she would read a poem about her parents, and would not be talked out of it. She lost her place halfway through, stood silent at the lectern for long enough that Jane began to rise from the front pew, and then found the line and finished. Oscar had refused to speak. During the final hymn he walked to the table in front of the coffins and placed two objects on it: his father's engineering ruler and his mother's favourite scarf. Then he went back to his seat.

The burial that followed was attended by the families only. The wake was held at the New Norfolk Town Hall, where the couple's wedding reception had taken place. Jane Lahey stayed for less than an hour.