The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
THE Ryan family in Newmarket endured a very difficult emotional rollercoaster in the spring of 2009. The birth of Abbey Ryan, the first granddaughter in their extended family, on March 3, 2009 brought great joy to everyone. However, the death of her father, Pakie, (34) in early April, left a cloud hanging over the entire family. The sports fanatic and Newmarket character would have been 40 on Monday, January 26. During his illness, Pakie received great support from his wife, Frances, relatives, friends and the local community. His father, Christy recalls Pakie repeatedly said there were people much worse off than him, even in the middle of his cancer battle. Two or three years after his death, it struck Christy that Pakie had 34 years of happiness, he was never sick and never in hospital. Frances describes the spring of ’09 as a “battle of emotions”, which was a bit too much for everyone to take in, as there was …
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