Kelly, 'Tiny's' daughter, has sent a letter thanking the Association Office Staff for their assistance and to Tim Humphreys and Pete Bate for carrying out the duties of the Standard Bearer and Bugler. Kelly also wishes to thank all association members that made the journey to Grantham to pay their respects.
Below is an extract of the letter:
A huge thank you to Peter and Tim and the rest of the boys from the association for being present at my dad's funeral yesterday. They simply made it a very special occasion and gave my dad a send off that I will remember for the rest of my days. My husband Stephen and I could not stop talking about how wonderful it was to have them all there. I just wish we had more time to have talked with them all.
Sadly Mr Mills got caught up in traffic and then had an incident with a pot hole so he sadly did not make the farewell. I will be giving him a call later today to thank him for his efforts.
My deepest gratitude to yourself for helping to organise the troops and also to Mr Potts for keeping the communication lines open with everyone.
Also thank you to everyone that would have made the first date but were unable to make the second date, I know from the messages received my dad was well thought of through his life, and that means so very much to us all.
Stephen and I would like to make a donation to the association.
My words really cannot tell you how appreciative we are of the effort that everyone has made to help us say goodbye to Tiny Abbott, my dad. I can only say my heart is bursting with gratitude and love.
Fondest regards to you all.
Kelly and Stephen Furphy and our family