IN Bessie Barrett's home in Eglish, Co Tyrone, friends and neighbours were always assured of a warm and kindly welcome.
Her humour and keen recollection of the times and characters of the past kept alive all that was best of the traditions handed down from generations of hard-working country people whose roots were deep down in the faith of their ancestors.
Stories which she fondly shared with all who were blessed to know her.
Bessie was born in September 1929, one of 13 children to Patrick and Winifred McGready.
She spent her earlier years working as a dress maker in the linen mills in Moygashel until she married Eglish man Joe Barrett in 1953.
Five years later, alongside her husband, she played a pivotal role in the establishment and then running of the family business - Barrett’s Concrete.
It was said by many who knew the Barretts that 'Joe made the blocks and Bessie made the money'.
She was honest and straightforward in her business dealings, a trait she passed on to her children who now run the family firm.
Throughout her 88 years Bessie saw vast changes and improvements in the world around her but she held tightly to the things she learned in childhood from wise and sturdy people who found worth and experience in each other's interest and past times.
Bessie was wise in her words and shared her experiences and beliefs with her children and grandchildren.
Her devotion to her religion was exemplary throughout her life and she was fortunate and blessed to have had the attention of numerous parish priests.
In her last years it was the spiritual guidance she received from the Very Rev Fr Eugene Sweeney who was not only her priest but a great neighbour.
Bessie was a lifelong pioneer, having received the Fr Cullen pin for her abstinence from alcohol - a testament to the commitment she showed towards something she believed in.
Her love for her family was first and foremost and she was happiest when surrounded by loved ones.
Indeed her strong family ties took her on two occasions to Australia where her brother Johnny resides.
This long journey was taken on one occasion with two of her siblings, Peter and Winnie, also now deceased.
Elizabeth (Bessie) Barrett died on April 17 2018. Predeceased by her husband, she was the dearly loved mother of John, Maura, Bernie, Martin, Nuala and Roisin and loving sister of John, Patrick, Oliver, Bernadette, Finbar and the late Nan, Rosie, Bridget, Angela, Peter and Michael and Winnie.
Her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will have lasting memories of a kind and loving woman and a wide circle of friends and neighbours will recall Bessie Barrett as one whose sincerity and friendliness made an impression that will not easily be forgotten.
