Grandmother Gladys Lewis, 74, from Pentre, south Wales, died in hospital on October 29. Dean, 44, was unresponsive at his home in nearby Treorchy the following day and pronounced dead a short time later. Darren, 42, died on November 2 following treatment in intensive care. All three tested positive and their death certificates state Covid-19 as the cause.
Yesterday mourners outside St Peter’s Church in Pentre listened through loudspeakers.
The family, who were inside, had wanted the funerals at the same time so the three could be together. Father Haydn England-Simon, who led the service, told them: “You are right when you say that no one should ever go through what you have been going through.”
The family called on people to “play their part” to stop the spread of the virus.
Father Haydn described the dead as much-loved members of the family and local community.
Gladys was a proud greatgrandmother, who knitted clothes for the “little ones”. Father-of-three Dean “had a heart of gold, very much like his mother, and would do anything for anyone.”
Darren, who had Down’s syndrome, had a “fighting spirit that drew people to him and made him who he was – the strong, determined character,” Father Haydn read.
The family said Darren and Gladys, who had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema, had been shielding, while Dean had only gone out once a week to shop for his parents.
