The late Anne Larkin remembered for having ‘a heart of gold ... who loved people'

Anne Larkin (Nee Gallagher) of 3 Rosemount Villas, Letterkenny, who was laid to rest in Leck Cemetery late last month following her Funeral Mass at St Eunan's Cathedral, will be remembered as someone who had a “heart of gold.”

Anne was born in 1946 to her parents, Lilly and John. Lilly, her mother, was from Arranmore island while John, her father, was from Owey Island. Lilly was a nurse and John was a teacher. That was a great foundation for Anne and her sister Marion, having parents from tight-knit island families

Anne’s sister Marion became a teacher in Derry while Anne started her career as a secretary in Raymond O’Neill’s solicitors' office in Letterkenny.

Next, she landed a job in the health board as a secretary in the dental department. There, she developed lifelong friendships with a great group of colleagues and they remained friends until her passing.

She helped a lot of people during her time in the dental department. It was widely known that if you or your family were on a long waiting list for dental work, but you needed help right away, just call Anne (AKA Mrs L) and she would get you sorted. She loved her time working there and only retired when she had no other option. She never wanted to leave dental.

Anne spent some of her younger years in Tullybeg/Ballyare, but she lived most of her life in Letterkenny. It was there she met her husband, Alec (Big Alec). They were married in the late 1960’s, had three sons in quick succession, Alec, Stephen and Mel and moved into 24 McNeely Villas in the early 1970s.

It was an exciting time because a lot of couples moved into this new housing estate in Oldtown at the same time to establish their homes and raise their families. Both the parents and the children developed lifelong friendships there in the Oldtown. The community there became like one big family. They were always there for each other in times of need. Anne’s parents also bought one of the new houses in Rosemount and moved into the town.

Although Anne was a secretary in the dental department, she wore many hats. She did a lot of voluntary work for various organisations, including The Little Angel’s school for Dr Murray, the animal rescue centre, and the residents committee in Rosemount. Over the years, she was a wife, a mother, and a great friend to many. She also nursed both of her own parents as they reached the end of their own journey, many years apart - Lilly in 1982 and then John in 1997.

After Alec passed away in 1989, she moved into the house in Rosemount with her father. They spent a few good years together. Later, when her father passed away, she stayed on in Rosemount as it had become her second home. Often when someone would ask her what she thought about living in Rosemount, she would say: “It’s like a wee village in the middle of a big town”. You could say it is the heart of the town.

Anne loved Elvis Presley, walking on Rathmullan beach, and she loved people. She also loved travelling to new places and meeting new people.

Some of her trips included Lourdes, Spain and America. She had a few trips to America, and as much as she enjoyed the trip itself, she also enjoyed telling all her friends about it when she came home. She had a great memory and she was a great storyteller.

These two traits combined meant there was no quick visit or conversation with her. You might stop in for a chat and find yourself still there a few hours later. She had a great knack for connecting with people on a deeper level. Over the days of her wake and funeral, her family heard many stories of times she helped people out when they needed a friend.

Anne wasn’t perfect, but who among us is? She lived life on her own terms, and she helped a lot of people along the way. Of the many stories heard, the best way to sum it up is that she had a heart of gold, and she was great craic.