Burnley fan Jo Cunningham (formerly Tomlinson) passes away

[ClaretTony]

Today has been a very emotional day at Jo's funeral which incredibly she planned herself, right down to the music and choice of hymns. Whalley Parish Church was packed to the rafters and they were moving people here and there to get everyone in before Jo came into the church to George Michael's You have been loved.

I can report that from the old email group I was joined by Mik, Matt, Kelvin, Trev, Liam, Syd, Rob and Sue and we plan to join up for a drink sometime before a game to celebrate Jo's life, probably just before Christmas.

I did get the chance to speak to Steve and to Jo's mum and both thanked us for the tributes on here.

I think it was Mik who said that Jo would have loved it today.

I've scanned the front cover of the order of service plus one of the three pages, all of which carried the same picture. That claret and blue scarf she was so proud of was on the coffin along with the flowers.

Love you Jo
xx

Jo Funeral 1.jpg (52.83 KiB) Viewed 1264 times

Jo Funeral 2.jpg (96.07 KiB) Viewed 1264 times

[Pimlico_Claret]

Not sure how many who post on here were there today, but there were plenty of Burnley scarves on show . To those who weren't, it was an incredibly moving service , from the sheer amount of people attending, the raw emotions in the brave family and friends who gave speeches, barely able to speak at times, but getting through their messages of love for Jo , and fully deserving the applause they received. As was said at the end, if you had attended without ever meeting Jo, you would have left feeling like you were one of her friends. From a personal perspective, our son Harry handled the most difficult day of his life with a maturity and dignity that belies his years, I know his mum would be feeling as proud of him as myself, Steve and all the family and friends there were. Thank you to everyone who attended.

[Pimlico_Claret]

Sorry CT, you had posted that just as I was writing mine. Sorry I missed you today, I was looking out for you. Thank you for your lovely post and the brilliant pictures of the order of service.

[ClaretTony]

Not sure how many who post on here were there today, but there were plenty of Burnley scarves on show

I discussed with Matt earlier in the week whether we should wear any claret and blue and we decided to wear our scarves but I did see some others wearing them. I went into the church around 1:05 to find it pretty full then but an older lady was going in at the same time, looked at my scarf, and just said to me: "Jo would love that."

[Pimlico_Claret]

Given the prominence of Jo's claret and blue scarf, on show yesterday on her casket, and in the photo above, then we were all pleased to see those who turned up wearing their own.

[davemanu2000]

Sad to learn the premature death of a genuine Claret . may his soul rest in peace .

[bfcfan1882]

Sad to learn the premature death of a genuine Claret . may his soul rest in peace .

Joanne would be smiling at this.

I think Dave, you’ve met JoJo at an early Sparrow Hawk meet. I have seen photos of your visit, but unfortunately I don’t possess them.