This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-29623337
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| MH17 crash: Funeral of Glenn Thomas held in Lancashire | MH17 crash: Funeral of Glenn Thomas held in Lancashire |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Hundreds of people have attended the funeral of a man who died in the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 air crash in Ukraine. | Hundreds of people have attended the funeral of a man who died in the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 air crash in Ukraine. |
| Glenn Thomas, 49, who was originally from Blackpool, was one of 298 people killed in July when the Boeing 777 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur came down. | Glenn Thomas, 49, who was originally from Blackpool, was one of 298 people killed in July when the Boeing 777 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur came down. |
| The humanist service at the Lowther Pavilion in Lytham included a one-minute silence for all the victims. | The humanist service at the Lowther Pavilion in Lytham included a one-minute silence for all the victims. |
| His twin sister Tracey Withers said it was a "celebration" of his life. | His twin sister Tracey Withers said it was a "celebration" of his life. |
| During the service a candle was lit for Mr Thomas by Ms Withers and his partner Claudio Manoel Villaca-Vanetta. | During the service a candle was lit for Mr Thomas by Ms Withers and his partner Claudio Manoel Villaca-Vanetta. |
| Tributes were read by his best friend Steve Manion, nephew Jordan Withers, and Ms Christy Feig, director of communications at the World Health Organization. | |
| Later, a horse-drawn hearse led the cortege to the Park Crematorium in Lytham. | Later, a horse-drawn hearse led the cortege to the Park Crematorium in Lytham. |
| Analysis: BBC Radio Lancashire's Steve Becker | |
| It was a memorial service... and yet a celebration as well, as Glenn Thomas's family had requested. | |
| Where else would mourners hear 'Ernie, The Fastest Milkman In The West'? | |
| It was chosen to reflect his eclectic musical tastes after nephew Jordan Withers recalled him playing it in his open-top car as they sped along the Blackpool prom. | |
| Around 200 people from around the world attended the service, including officials from the World Health Organization in Geneva where Glenn was a press officer. | |
| Communications director Christy Feig told the audience: 'He lived life so fast it was as if, on some level, he knew his life was going to be cut short.' | |
| That drew a round of applause, followed by others as tributes recalled a warm, generous traveller who remained "a Blackpool lad at heart". | |
| Glenn's twin sister, Tracey Withers, and her daughter, Brittany, concluded the poems at the service with one written specially, in which the first-line letters spelled out Glenn's name. | |
| It ended: 'A comforting feeling it gives to me / Sadly this was your destiny'. | |
| 'A wonderful person' | |
| Mr Thomas, who lived in Geneva, was one of 10 people from the UK who died in the crash. | |
| He was travelling to Australia for an Aids conference in his role as media officer for the World Health Organization (WHO) when the plane came down. | |
| Colleagues described Mr Thomas as "a wonderful person and a great professional" after his death was confirmed in the MH17 crash in Ukraine in July. | |
| Dutch experts say the aircraft broke up in mid-air but there was "no evidence of technical or human error". | Dutch experts say the aircraft broke up in mid-air but there was "no evidence of technical or human error". |
| Mr Thomas had worked as a journalist for the BBC and Granada before moving to Switzerland. | Mr Thomas had worked as a journalist for the BBC and Granada before moving to Switzerland. |