A heartbroken husband paid tribute to his late wife at her funeral service in Enniskillen last week.

The Rev. David Nixon of Dún Laoghaire Methodist Church delivered his tribute to his wife of 30 years in Enniskillen Methodist Church last Wednesday September 23.

Rhoda Nixon (nee Thorpe) was just 52 when she died peacefully in her home after a two year battle with lung cancer.

David told the story of their life to the congregation and then again to this newspaper.

Rhoda was born in Enniskillen, a daughter of Edith and the late Wilson Thorpe. She was a sister to Elizabeth, Wilson, Mark and the late Grace.

Rev. Nixon spoke about Rhoda being a “committed Christian”.

He said: “First and foremost Rhoda was a committed Christian. She had a faith in her Lord Jesus which enabled her to trust him and take huge steps of faith. Her first step of faith was when she opened a Christian Bookshop in Sligo immediately after finishing school.”

Rhoda married David Nixon in 1990 and accompanied him as he began his journey into his ministry in Dungannon. She spent some time working between Dungannon and her book shop.

As David was called further into his ministry they moved to Belfast and lived there while David studied Theology as he trained as a candidate for the Methodist ministry.

During this period, Rhoda demonstrated her faith and adaptability spending one year studying in Belfast Bible College and training and working as a care assistant in Bethany Nursing home.

She also volunteered for two periods of work in a children’s orphanage in Romania and spent a summer in Kenya.

After moving to Inishowen, County Donegal, Rhoda and David’s two sons, Samuel and Christopher were born in 1996 and 1998.

David explained that while their two sons were only young they moved to Birmingham to train for overseas ministry.

“We then spent an amazing 13 years in Zambia, what an adventure that was.”

While in Zambia, Rhoda taught her two sons, home teaching them in the morning while undertaking social work in the community in the afternoon.

David said: “She had rightly been so proud of Samuel and Christopher, as she said to Samuel when he graduated with his degree in Computer and Electronic Engineering in Galway: ‘My name is on that Degree!’”

Rhoda was highly thought of in Zambia. Tributes have come in from friends there, some of which moved David to tears.

He shared one of the tributes with The Impartial Reporter from Rev. Esther Mundemba in Choma, Zambia.

She said in her tribute: “How do l adequately describe the Rhoda Nixon I have known over two decades? The Rhoda l personally loved, appreciated, admired and I closely worked together with. Rhoda, you are just such an amazing person. You were an excellent mixer. You had the heart of a good mother. You had a perfect gift of loving and accommodating everyone regardless of their social status. You have made us feel part of your own family.”

Rhoda and David returned to Ireland in 2012 and continued their ministry in North Dublin, in 2018 they were based at Dún Laoghaire Methodist Church. In the same year, Rhoda cycled to her GP and then on to the hospital where she received the devastating news that she had Stage Three Lung Cancer which eventually spread to her spine and brain.

Speaking about his beloved wife’s death, David said: “I know she needs no healing now. She went to receive her perfect healing and be with her Lord, whom she served, on September 19.

“She was loving, compassionate, got extremely angry at injustice of any kind, loved cooking and entertaining and conversation. She was adaptable and her determination would never allow her to give up on anything. Even her illness did not stop her thinking about others.”

David recounts how early in her illness, she struggled to sleep at night and one night he woke up to find her looking in his bedside locker. “What are you looking for?” he enquired, “I need your credit card, I’m buying flowers for Janice’s birthday.

“She was so grateful for anything done for her during her illness, expressing it with her thanks and a smile.”

Rhoda’s funeral service in Enniskillen Methodist Church was led by Rev. Des Bain and Rev. Andrew Dougherty, Superintendent of The Southern District of The Methodist Church in Ireland preached. Rev. Dr. Tom McKnight, President of The Methodist Church in Ireland led the final Prayers in the Service. She was buried in the “beautiful graveyard at Knockninny Methodist Church as a beautiful rainbow filled the sky.”

Funeral arrangements were carried out by Austen Stinson, W T Morrison Funeral Directors.

Rhoda is survived by her husband David, and her two sons Samuel (23) and Christopher (22), her mother Edith, and her siblings; Elizabeth,Wilson, and Mark.