“A BRILLIANT husband, father, son and uncle, and a true gentleman” is how the son of the late Peter Jones (55) described the community stalwart who died last Wednesday, July 21 following an incident in the Lough Melvin area of Fermanagh.

Peter’s eldest son, Leigh, led tributes on behalf of Peter’s heartbroken family.

He said: “He was a brilliant dad, and he had the patience of a saint. He never had any complaints about being tired after work; he always had time for us – he was a really brilliant, loving father.”

The devoted family man doted on his family, Leigh revealed, as he described his late father and his loving actions.

He said: “When we were in primary school, he would have checked all our homework every night; there might have been four of us at one time in primary school, so it was a lot of work.

“He’d have come home from work, have a few minutes to relax and then go to football training, and then he’d be back up to eat and would sit up to 11 or 12 o’clock at night to correct our homework and have it ready for us.”

Peter Jones married his wife, Martina, on July 14, 1990 in Boho, and the couple had six children – Leigh (27), Nicola (25), Nathan (23), Naomi (21), Aaron (18) and Ronan (13).

Peter grew up in Corr, Boho. He was born on December 9, 1965 as the second of eight children to Teresa and the late Charlie Jones.

He grew up with his siblings, Charlie, John, Owen, Bernard, Gabriel, Oliver, and Carmel.

Sadly, one of the most important people in Peter’s life was unable to attend his funeral – his younger brother, Gaby. Leigh said: “He was very close to Gaby, who lives in Boston.

“Him and dad were always very close because of football, and Gaby always said dad was like a second father to him, growing up.

“Over the years they would have had many phone calls over the phone for hours, chatting about Derrygonnelly Harps, mostly.”

Speaking on his father’s early life, Leigh said: “He attended Killyhommon Primary School and St. Joseph’s College before attending the training college.

“He worked briefly in a bakery in Ballyshannon with his uncle Bernard before working as a labourer.

“Dad worked for 35 years at Tracey’s Concrete, and was the production manager. Before that, he had various roles.

“He was very well liked and respected in Tracey’s by all who worked there, and he will be sorely missed there.”

Peter was also involved in many groups and had a variety of interests, but his main passion was his beloved Derrygonnelly Harps.

Leigh said: “Derrygonnelly Harps were his main pastime – he got involved in football late; he played a wee bit when he was young, but he wouldn’t have come from a big football family.

“Dad didn’t start playing until he was about 17. He played into his forties, and was part of Derrygonnelly’s first championship winning team in 1995; he always had good stories to tell us about that.”

When it was time to hang up his boots, Peter threw himself into coaching.

Leigh said: “When he finished his playing days, he went straight into coaching and he would have coached me the whole way up to Minor football, and then coached me at Seniors.

“He did a lot of coaching for Derrygonnelly, and he coached a lot of players. He was still a coach and was taking Under-17s this year. He had a role as the coaching officer for the past few years.

“He was always a big Harps lotto seller, and always had big numbers each week, and he was involved in the Derrygonnelly Committee, so he was always involved in any work going on around the club.”

Peter was a committed volunteer for the organisations he helped out, including the Boho youth club and Botha parish, Leigh added.

“He would have always been someone to put his hand out to help with whatever is going on.”

Peter’s family wish to express their sincere gratitude for the emergency services for all they did in the events after his passing.

Leigh also paid tribute to his family, who were on the scene at the time of Peter’s passing.

He said: “When the incident happened, my mother was brilliant. She swam out and pulled dad in from the water.

“My youngest brother, Ronan, ran to get help from my dad’s uncle, Bernard, and to Fr. Seamus Quinn, who lives nearby. They gave dad CPR until the emergency services arrived.

“Ronan was brilliant – he is only 13, but he knows all the CPR stuff, so he coached everyone through that.”

Peter’s body was brought to his family home on Thursday evening, with his funeral cortege taking the same route the devoted husband and father would travel home from work.

Leigh said: “There was a guard of honour at Tracey’s, and there must have been every employee in Tracey Concrete standing out.

“We brought him past his home house, and there were people at every house – at one bridge there was a guard of honour from Killyhommon Primary School, and when we got to the house, there was a massive guard of honour from Derrygonnelly Harps.”

The Jones family are very grateful for the support shown that evening, and during Peter’s funeral.

Leigh said: “It was a great comfort to know how much he meant to other people.”

Peter Jones’s Funeral Mass took place last Saturday, July 24 at Sacred Heart Church, Boho, and was conducted by Fr. Cathal Deery, before his remains were buried in the adjoining church yard.

Funeral arrangements were carried out by Damian McGovern Funeral Directors.