Funeral Held for Church Organist

Alan Greaves death: Funeral for church organist

Mrs Greaves told the congregation her husband was “a truly beautiful man”

Hundreds of people have attended the funeral of a church organist who was attacked on Christmas Eve.

Alan Greaves, 68, from High Green, Sheffield, was on his way to Midnight Mass when he was assaulted on 24 December. He died three days later.

During the service Mr Greaves’s widow, Maureen, described her husband as “a truly beautiful man”.

Jonathan Bowling, 22, and Ashley Foster, 21, both from Sheffield, have been charged with his murder.

Alan Greaves Mr Greaves died three days after he was attacked on Christmas Eve

Mrs Greaves spoke of her husband’s compassion, faith and devotion to his family during the eulogy at St Saviour’s Church in High Green.

She said: “Alan bought me my last bunch of flowers on Christmas Eve morning. When I went to thank Alan and give him a kiss, he said, ‘I love you so much Maureen, so much, and I’m so glad that I married you’. I answered with the same.”

Hundreds of well wishers had lined the streets of High Green in silence as the funeral cortege was driven by.

The funeral was relayed to the nearby St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church due to the limited seating at St Saviour’s.

Crowds standing outside were also able to listen to the service via speakers.

People lining street close to St Saviour’s church for funeral of Alan Greaves. People lined the street for the funeral cortege

The Reverend Canon Simon Bessant, the vicar at St Saviour’s, said the funeral had been a traditional one based on plans the couple had made before a trip to Mozambique in 2007.

“Everything we are doing today is exactly what Alan had chosen,” he said.

Mr Bessant told the congregation that Mr Greaves had been a reader in the Church of England for 36 years.

“I can simply find no better way to describe Alan than to say that he was a good man,” he added.