This article is one of a series about people who have died with coronavirus in Ireland and among the diaspora. Read more at irishtimes.com/covid-19-lives-lost. If you would like a friend or family member included in the series, please email: liveslost@irishtimes.com.
Lawrence (Larry) McManus 1926-2020
Lawrence (Larry) McManus was born in 1926 in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, and spent his childhood in the village of Tamlaght where he attended Tattygar Primary School.
He married his late wife Dorothy and the couple moved to Belfast before later returning to Fermanagh where McManus spent many years working in a sawmill before taking up employment with the Housing Executive and remaining there until he retired.
The couple had five children; Valerie and Audrey and Colin, Aubrey and Helen, who have all sadly died.
Described as a hard worker, Larry was devoted to his wife and children and they enjoyed regular day trips to Donegal where they visited the seaside resort of Bundoran. In later years, his life was enriched by every moment spent with his 18 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
Not even retirement could stop McManus from gardening and angling, two of his favourite pastimes, and many days were spent fishing on Lough Erne.
A fishing rod on the wall of the room at South West Acute Hospital, where he lay having tested positive for coronavirus last month, was a fitting reminder of the oasis of calm and relaxation that he sought from fishing in the Fermanagh Lakelands.
He died on April 8th aged 93 and was buried across the road from where he died.
Undertakers dressed in white hazmat suits drove the short distance from the hospital for the burial and as the sun shone on the council-run graveyard 10 members of his family formed a guard of honour in his memory.
“I feel empty; I just wish it was something else that took him and not this terrible virus,” says his daughter Valerie.
Larry is now at peace, she says, reunited with his beloved wife.
“He was a wonderful father and grandfather. He was just the best and couldn’t do enough for you. He was always there at times of trouble; he was there for us, each and every one of us.
“I wish I could have been there with him when he died but it wasn’t to be. He was a great age but I think the longer you have them the harder it is when you lose them,” says Valerie.