The murder of pregnant mother of two Sarah Montgomery has left a “deep wound” on her family and the community where she lived, her funeral has been told.
The service of thanksgiving for Ms Montgomery and her unborn son Liam Arthur at Donaghadee Parish Church also heard that she was a born carer with a heart of gold.
Ms Montgomery, 27, died at her home in Elmfield Walk in the Co Down town last month. A man has appeared in court charged with her murder.
Her death led to renewed focus on the rate of violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland and hundreds of people attended a vigil in her memory last week.
The service of thanksgiving on Thursday followed a family service of committal earlier in the day.
Rector of Donaghadee Rev Ian Gamble told the service: “The tragic death of Sarah and baby Liam has left a deep wound on a close and quiet family in our town.
“It has left a deep wound on the community up in Elmfield and across Donaghadee.
“Sarah Montgomery was a quiet and much-loved Donaghadee girl. A young mother, sister, a loving daughter to her late parents and a cherished granddaughter.
“Sarah had many friends from her days at school in our town and she was very much a part of our local community.
“Our community has rallied around her family in a wonderful way.”
Rev Kathy Couchman, who officiated at the service, said the family had been “totally overwhelmed” by the support they had received from Donaghadee and further afield.
She added: “Sarah grew up in Donaghadee; this is where she spent her life and where she was so involved in the life of the town and her community.
“She has always been very proud of Donaghadee and so immensely proud especially to be Arthur and Edie Arbuckle’s granddaughter and to have a granda who was, ‘Arthur Arbuckle, the lifeboatman’.
“Sarah’s love for the lifeboats has been lifelong and she had great interest and pride in following her mummy in fundraising for the RNLI.”
Rev Couchman said: “Sarah was just a born carer.
“Her friends and family have all spoken of how she had a heart of gold, of how caring she was, not only towards people she knew, but to anyone who needed help, and Arthur and Edie have told me just how much love and kindness she has shown them throughout her life and how much she has done to help them.”
She said that Ms Montgomery’s two daughters had been the “centre of her world”.
She added: “Sarah was so looking forward to being a mummy also to her baby, Liam Arthur.
“It is an utter tragedy that none of us has had, or ever will have, the chance to know him, to see him as a little boy or grown into a young man, but his was a life, a very precious life, that we must recognise and give thanks for.
“His was a life that was so dearly loved and cherished by Sarah, who would have been the best, most loving mummy to him, too.
“She had everything ready to welcome him to this world, to her family and to her girls.
“Thoughtful as ever, Sarah had had clothes prepared for Liam Arthur, embroidered with his name.
“We have seen so many tributes to Sarah over the past 11 days. They tell of a beautiful, caring, gentle and thoughtful young woman, who lived for her family and treasured her friendships.
“Sarah – mummy, granddaughter, sister, friend – in death as in life, she has touched so many hearts, far and wide, as has her baby, Liam Arthur.
“Our community is in shock and in mourning for them, and the response that we have seen, the love and support that has been shown to the family has been just incredible.
“Today we are giving thanks for them both and it’s the saddest of privileges to be able to do that here in our church.
“But let’s be clear about this, it should not be like this; we should not be here today, having to say goodbye to Sarah, a beautiful, caring young mummy with everything to live for, and to her baby, Liam Arthur, who has not even been allowed his moment of birth, let alone a breath of life beyond his mummy.”
She continued: “Sarah and Liam Arthur and his sisters should have a future ahead of them, but that future has been brutally and unjustly snatched away from them, and from their family and friends.
“This isn’t right; this isn’t how it should be, and we must not lose sight of the fact that it is neither right nor is it in any way excusable.
“There are no words that can ever take away the pain and devastation that will now wrack the hearts and lives of Sarah’s family.
“Yet we will all use many words as we try to grapple with the vast flood of emotions that fill us when we think of this beautiful, caring young mummy and her baby: there will be shock; there will be disbelief; there will be pain and deep, deep sadness.
“There will also be anger; there will be outrage at the brutality and injustice of taking away two such precious lives.”
