LEYTON: Touching send-off for a Pearly King
12:36pm Monday 29th September 2008
IT was a send-off fit for royalty as the family of Daniel Murphy, Leyton resident and Pearly King of Hackney, celebrated his life with a pearly funeral.
Mr Murphy died on September 17 after a short battle with cancer but rather than mourning his loss, his family decided to mark his death in the way he would have wanted.
His wife, Jacqueline, said: “There must have been about 150 people there.
“It wasn’t sad – in the pub afterwards, everyone was talking about him and laughing about tricks he used to play and it cheered everybody up.
“He would have wanted everybody to remember him as a happy bloke, which is what he was.”
Featuring pearly kings and queens in full pearly regalia, known as “smother suits”, the day even had a touch of celebrity as a certain TV presenter left a special message for the family.
“When we got in, I had a message on my answering machine from Jools Holland,” said Mrs Murphy, 68, of Claude Road.
“He phoned up and said how sorry he was and if there was anything he could do, not to hesitate to call him.
“Daniel would have been so proud – Jools Holland was his idol, being a pianist himself, and he was just in awe of him when we used to go on his shows.”
The funeral was held at St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Leyton, and Mr Murphy will be remembered again at the annual harvest festival at “pearly church” St Martin in the Fields on the first Sunday in October.