Gary Dillon was a unique character, who achieved so much and touched the lives of so many people in his short life, despite his continuous battle with cystic fibrosis.
He passed away on St Valentine’s Day last year and the hundreds of mourners who packed St Joseph’s Church in Sligo for his funeral mass heard celebrant Fr Noel Rooney speak of how Gary had “found a special path that only he could walk”and “had done more than most of us.”
Fr Rooney said: “I have often stood here at funerals of people in their 70, 80s and even 90s and they would not have lived as full a life as Gary did in his 31 years.”
He also said that Gary had lived with cystic fibrosis all of his 31 years but he added: “As someone said, Gary had cystic fibrosis but CF did not have him.”
Fr Rooney said that he had “an energy and enthusiasm that he really should not have had”.
“It did not put a stop to his gallop. It did not stop him doing things that most of us only dream of doing. He (Gary) left us on St Valentine’s day. It is a day when we celebrate all sorts of love but Gary was surrounded by the real thing.”
This weekend will see a special ball held in memory of Gary Dillon. There is full details in this week’s Sligo Weekender.
