Obituary: Mr. Samuel (Uel) Stirling

To his family, he was Uel or Sam, to his Flexibox work mates he was known as ‘Horse’, but to everyone who knew him as a friend or mate, he was always known as ‘Ducky’!

Uel was the only child of Molly and Sam Stirling, born in ‘The Ross’ on 13th December 1952. His early school days were spent at Moorfields Primary School. The family moved to The Mill Entry in Broughshane when Uel was about 10 years old before moving to his final resting place in Shane Court on the Main Street.

After leaving school, Uel’s early working days were in the GEC factory in Larne and subsequently he found a job in the Flexibox factory in Ballymena where he spent 30 years predominantly on night shift. On his weekends off he was quite often seen behind the bar of The Thatch Inn, were he enjoyed the banter, very seldom losing a battle of wits!

Away from work Uel’s passion was football. He followed Ballymena Utd and Glasgow Rangers, having a soft spot for Tottenham Hotspur. It was well known that Uel enjoyed a flutter and was quite often to be found at Down Royal Races or coming out of (to quote his aunt) ‘that wee shop on Ballymoney Street!’.

Uel also ran the Thatch Inn Darts Team where he enjoyed success, winning a number of trophies as a non playing manager, which was a blessing because when he threw a dart, sometimes even the light switches weren’t safe!

Uel’s health took a turn for the worst 13 years ago when he began his battle with cancer. He fought it hard and with great dignity and went on to have good quality of life until 3 years ago when his illness returned. He endured chemotherapy on several occasions, being referred to by many of the nurses as a ‘model patient’ as he always thought someone else was worse off than him.

The last 3 months saw Uel’s health deteriorate. He left home on Thursday 24th November to go to hospital for more treatment but none of us knew he would not return. Uel’s untimely death on Wednesday 30th November left shockwaves around his hometown of Broughshane.

Testimony to his popularity was the massive turnout as his funeral, young and old. He was everybody’s friend and no one in the Village could find a bad word to say about him. He will be sadly missed by his family circle and many friends.

Broughshane has lost a true friend.