Tributes paid to ‘big man who made people smile’

BIG personalities often make polarising people, but those who met Jackie McElhinney knew him to be a ‘larger-than-life character that you couldn’t not like’.

The funeral of the former proprietor of the Brookmount Road Centra – better known as ‘Jackie’s shop’ – took place this morning (Thursday) in the Sacred Heart Church, Omagh.

After his peaceful passing in Altnagelvin Hospital, Derry, on Tuesday, his longtime business partner and friend, Neil Sweeney, as well as Jackie’s family, including his wife, Claire, paid warm tributes to ‘the big man who specialised in making people smile’.

“Jackie was a fun character,” began Neil, deciding the angle from which he could best capture the essence of his old comrade and colleague.

“For one thing, he was a great man for charity.

“If you had a worthy cause, Jackie would put together a quiz to raise money for it.

“It took a lot of work behind the scenes to get them ready, but he didn’t mind.

“He didn’t care who you were or where you were from, whether the quiz had to be run in the British Legion or Clanabogan Country Club…

“Neither, in actual fact, did he care too much about whether his answers were 100 per-cent accurate!

“His opening statement used to be, ‘If I say that New York is the capital of Taiwan, then it is. I am the quizmaster, and my word is final,” laughed Neil.

Jackie was born outside Drumquin on September 8, 1933.

In his early life, he moved to Glasgow with his mother and father, May and John, and his two sisters, May and Peggie.

EVACUATED

However, not long after their arrival, the bombing raids of World War Two meant they were evacuated, soon finding themselves back on Irish soil.

His early working life included a job in Omagh Post Office and an apprenticeship as an electrician.

Recalling those bygone days, his family said, “After working those few odd jobs, Jackie moved to London, where he found and married his first wife, Eileen.

“Before they moved back home, together they had three children, Jackie, Peter and Eileen.”

Upon his repatriation, Jackie got a job as a supervisor in Omagh Meats, where he met 17-year-old trainee-manager, Neil.

“It was a strange partnership in ways, I suppose, but it worked,” said Neil, who was more than 20 years the junior of the pair.

“Jackie had the experience, the charisma and the people skills, and I had the energy,” he reflected.

The unlikely duo first rented a butcher shop in Drumquin, before taking out their first lease on the premises that would in time grow into their Brookmount Road empire.

“We at first rented units, then bought and developed them. This took many years, and eventually in 2008 we opened the big shop that you see today.

“Right up to Jackie’s retirement, our relationship never soured; there was never once a cross word went between us.”

Around the same time that the two men got into business on the Brookmount Road, Jackie married Claire, and the newlyweds settled down in a house on the nearby Tamlaght Road, before having Faith and Matthew.

His family said, “Jackie was a one-of-a-kind, an entertainer.

“He was always poised to amuse or embarrass, but never with malice; always with the view to making people laugh.”

‘stitches of laughter’

They recalled one instance in which on holidays Jackie broke into song in ‘Les Dawson style’ in a busy restaurant, causing his family’s faces to go red, but rendering fellow diners in stitches of laughter.

“He’d have said and done things that most other people wouldn’t have even contemplated – and he would get away with it, too.”

Jackie was a ‘devoted and avid’ follower of Tottenham Hotspur, establishing and leading the local supporters club for many years.

“He would have went to matches until he was in his early ‘80s, and he had a London Council commissioned road sign for White Hart Lane in the house,” said Neil. “How he managed to get his hands on it, I think I better not say.”

Other interests included things which to other men could easily degenerate into vices, such as horse racing and poker. However, Neil said that Jackie never allowed anything to get on top of him.

OPPORTUNITY

“Whatever he did, it was always an opportunity to get out and about; whether he was going to the horses, sitting down at the poker table, or going to do a day’s work in the shop.

“Right until the end, Jackie had such a sharp wit, and a great memory. He had a way of telling jokes so that you would not know it was a joke until the very end. There really was nobody else quite like him, and I doubt there ever will be.”

It seems that despite his commercial accomplishments, Jackie will be remembered more for the man he was than the things he done; his lasting legacy being one of bringing laughter and happiness into the lives of others.

Jackie was the dearest husband of Claire and the late Eileen, devoted father of Faith (Aaron), Matthew (Sinead), Jacqueline (Steve), Peter (Siobhan) and Eileen (Sean), precious grandad to Rowan, Anna, Patrick, Claire, Eamon, Emer and great-grandad of Ella, Emily, Charlotte and Fred.