Deering, Eugene
March 10, 2010The death occurred peacefully on March 6th, after a long illness bravely borne of Eugene Deering, City View, Sligo.
A native of Athy, County Kildare, Eugene was born on June 5th 1940 and was the second eldest in the family of Patrick and Frances Deering, Ard Rí, Athy, County Kildare.
His working life began at a young age, learning his trade as a mechanic, becoming very skilled at his work and soon earning a reputation at being an expert in repairing cars.
After completing his apprenticeship in his native county, Eugene moved in 1959 to Tuam, County Galway for a job at the Rin Kippin garage in the town. His excellence as a mechanic quickly began to grow and his services were always in high demand.
It was in Tuam that he met his future wife, Maureen Roache and they married in August 1962.
It was around this time that Eugene obtained a job as a mechanic with Maye Motors in Adelaide Street, Sligo and so began his long association with the town he grew to love and made his home in.
Eugene and wife Maureen set up their family home at 22 Temple Street and it would a happy place of abode for the Deering family for over 20 years. They were blessed with three children, Martina born in 1963 and twins, Paul and Eugene in 1965.
During this time, Maye's garage was the main dealer for Opel, NSU, Commer Trucks, Hillman cars as well as International Tractors and agricultural machinery. The owner was the late Josie Maye who also ran a small quarry works at the time at Aughamore.
The company was later taken over by the Readymix group where Eugene had moved to work at the quarry in Carraroe as Service Manager, ensuring that the company's many gravel and sand trucks were maintained and kept on the road.
It was a job he loved even though the hours were often long he never complained, with providing for his young family always upper most in his thoughts.
Members of the staff in Maye Motors in the 1960s included general manager and accountant Andy McGloin, sales manager Tom O'Brien, service manager Mickey Foster, garage staff included, Eugene, Tom Duffy, Alex Lavelle, Pat Halley, Owen Wymbs, Michael O Connor, Pearse Kelleher and Charlie Dunleavy.
It was the last garage in Sligo to have a twenty-foot gunmetal extension attached to a petrol pump.
Eugene's talent at servicing all types of engines was quickly recognised and he became one of the first in the country to service an automatic car.
Renowned for getting people out of trouble when their cars got stuck, as frequently happened back then, there was always a steady stream of callers to the door of the family home in Temple Street where motorists knew that Eugene Deering would always, somehow, get them going again. At any hour of the evening or night he would don the overalls with the thought of getting the driver motoring again always upper most in his thoughts.
His skill as a service/transport manager received recognition in the 1980s when he was runner up in the Transport Institute's Innovator of the Year Award for his idea which was put into practise of interchanging the bodies of flat bed and tipping trucks.
Away from work, Eugene loved nothing better than the annual Church celebrations of Christmas, St. Patrick's Day and Easter. This was his time of the year and he enjoyed nothing better in his later years than having his family and grandchildren with him on such special occasions.
Indeed, if he were still working this week he would be busily preparing the Readymix float for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Eugene always made sure that Readymix had an entry in the parade, not only in Sligo but also the Bundoran one. The entry was frequently awarded a prize for his efforts.
HE also led a very active sporting life, playing for Athy GAA Club in his teens during the late 1950s. However, a back injury while playing with Athy curtailed his future progress in the game. Indeed, he had just gained a place on the Kildare County Junior team when the injury occurred.
His love of sport also ensured that Readymix had an sports day for the families of those employed there while he also organised a very successful five a side soccer competition at Aughamore for a number of years.
Sport remained an abiding love with Eugene all his life and when he arrived in Sligo he soon became bitten by the soccer bug. He followed Sligo Rovers from the time he arrived in the soccer mad town. He was present, with his two sons, for all the club's ups and downs and often fondly recalled the major triumphs of the club - the 1977 League title win and the cup successes of 1983 and 1994. He was also privileged to have been present when the legendary Red Star Belgrade came to Sligo in 1978.
Hardworking all his life, Eugene continued working in his physically demanding trade until becoming ill in his late 40s. Diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, Eugene retired prematurely but that didn't put him off enjoying life or ensuring that his family were educated, managing to put all three off his children through UCG during this time.
He and his wife Maureen were totally devoted to their three children. Eugene and Maureen were never interested in socializing, instead their goal was to see their children have the best start in life. Their joy was in seeing their family do well. They were a quiet and unassuming couple and were great neighbours.
Indeed, Eugene charted his childrens' progress through life, keeping his own scrapbook of their achievements.
In latter years, Eugene took delight in visiting his grandchildren and enjoying their company. Siobhan, Ciaran, Donal, Aaron, Jason, Keenan, Nadine and Amy will greatly miss all the fun and enjoyment they had with Eugene.
While firmly an adopted Sligoman, Eugene nevertheless always kept an interest in his native Kildare and always rejoiced on learning of any GAA championship success for his native county. And being from that part of the country he also naturally had a great interest in horse racing and he enjoyed nothing better during his life than the odd trip to the bookies.
He has been taken from his family at the young age of 69 but he will always be remembered for the great love and devotion to his family and also to his own brother and sisters to whom he had become a father figure following the death of his own dad, Patrick at the young age of 54.
Eugene, though struck with a serious illness, always made light of his problems and never once complained about the debilitating nature of the disease he battled so bravely for over 20 years. He was an inspiration to his family and to everyone who knew him.
Eugene is survived by his wife, Maureen, daughter Martina and sons Paul and Eugene, brother Roy, sisters Madelene, Mary, Vivienne, Geraldine and Dolores, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, son-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, cousins, relatives and many friends.
Removal from Feehily's Funeral Home to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception took place on Monday night with Mass of the Resurrection at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, with burial afterwards in Scarden Cemetery.
Courtesy of the Sligo Champion
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