THERE were emotional scenes yesterday as Man Bieau P’tit Jèrri (Beautiful Jersey) rang around a packed St Saviour’s Church and adjacent parish hall, as well as being streamed to a global congregation online, during the funeral of Island treasure Sadie Le Sueur-Rennard.
The Constable of St Saviour and the person with whom Jersey’s unofficial national anthem is most closely associated was laid to rest in a private burial following the service, which was attended by a large group of family, friends, Island dignitaries, fellow parishioners and States Members.
There were smiles and laughter to go with the tears, as the congregation listened to the Spike Milligan poem Smile, read by Sadie’s brother Guy, and heard about the love of country music that led to her having afternoon tea with Dolly Parton and being made an honorary citizen of Tennessee.
The service featured the hymns All Things Bright and Beautiful, I’ll be a Sunbeam and How Great Thou Art, and a eulogy by St Saviour Chef de Police Steven Laffoley-Edwards.
The address was given by the Rev Martin Evans, rector of St Saviour, and prayers were led by the Rev Tony Morling, minister of Jersey Methodist Church, and the Very Rev Mike Keirle, Dean of Jersey.
With the exception of reserved seats for family members and close friends, the church was full 45 minutes before the service, with mourners also filling the parish hall across the road prior to the arrival of the cortege, led by a horse-drawn carriage.
The wooden oak casket, draped in a Jersey flag, and funeral party entered the church to the strains of Man Bieau P’tit Jèrri, – an instrumental version of the song was followed later in the service by the ‘full Sadie’ bilingual version so often performed on Liberation Day and other special occasions.
Sadie, who died on 8 April at the age of 76, served her home parish as Constable for 11 years, but was also renowned for her theatrical prowess and as a proud owner of a prize-winning organic Jersey dairy herd.
Rev Evans welcomed mourners who had joined the live-streamed version of the service, which he said would be being watched online in – among other places – Nashville, Florida, New Jersey, Canada and across the UK.
The parish rector said that a combined service with a Methodist minister was appropriate, as Sadie had regularly attended services at the parish church but invariably pointed out that she was in fact a Methodist.
‘She was a truly remarkable woman,’ he added.
Living up to the old theatrical maxim of always leaving the audience wanting more was a trait of Sadie’s highlighted by Mr Laffoley-Edwards. She had learned to dance from the age of four, and to sing when she was six, he said, giving notice of her singing prowess by performing the Everly Brothers’ hit All I Have to Do is Dream live on Channel TV.
Another memorable performance came on stage as Miss Hannigan in Annie, Sadie’s portrayal of the ‘drunken lush’ character in no way compromised by the fact that she was a teetotaller in real life, he said.
The order of service featured almost as many pictures of animals as people, including cows, horses and Sadie’s beloved red setter, Jackson, along with a ‘greatest hits’ album of stage performances.
Although Mr Laffoley-Edwards was joking when he forecast that the eulogy would last two hours, the audience were definitely left wanting more of Sadie as she took her leave to the country music track Silver Wings.
The closing lyrics may have referred to a plane ‘slowly fadin’ out of sight’, but one suspects memories of Sadie will be lasting ones.
