The parents of murdered landscape architect Jo Yeates attended her funeral today in the village where she grew up.
The ceremony to commemorate the life of the 25-year-old was held at St Mark’s Church in Ampfield, Hampshire.
The wicker coffin, carried by pallbearers provided by the funeral service, was followed by Miss Yeates’s parents, David and Theresa.
The coffin was adorned with daffodils, small sunflowers and assorted other spring flowers.
The parents were followed by her brother Chris, his partner Alla Ritch and her son.
Behind them were Miss Yeates’s boyfriend Greg Reardon, his mother, with his father and brother Frank at the rear.
Many of the mourners, some of them travelling from the Bristol area, arrived early at the picturesque village church.
Earlier rain cleared, leaving the church and its wooded surrounding shrouded in a fine mist as friends and family members arrived.
The service was led by the vicar of Ampfield, the Rev Peter Gilks.
It is understood that the service was “very sombre” as the family felt unable to undertake a “celebration” as Miss Yeates’s life was cut so short.
The church was chosen as it has close links to the family and it was where Miss Yeates was christened.
The service was followed by a private interment attended by only very close family members and invited guests.
Miss Yeates worked as a landscape architect at the Bristol office of design firm BDP, alongside Mr Reardon, 27.
She disappeared on Friday December 17 after going for Christmas drinks with colleagues.
Mr Reardon reported her missing after he returned to Bristol on December 19 following a weekend away visiting family in Sheffield.
The university graduate’s frozen body was found dumped on a verge in Longwood Lane, Failand, North Somerset, on Christmas Day, three miles from her home in Canynge Road, Clifton, Bristol.
Miss Yeates’s next-door neighbour Vincent Tabak, 32, has been charged with her murder.
The Dutch engineer, who works at Buro Happold in Bath, is set to stand trial in October.
More than 50 floral tributes were placed outside the church.
These included bunches from friends, family members, Miss Yeates’s employer BDP and Avon and Somerset Police.
A note on one read: “Our Dearest, Jo you will be with us always. Gran and Uncle Clive.”
Another read: “Dear Jo, Your vivacious spirit and considerable presence will not be forgotten.
“I will miss your ever cheerful greetings. Until we meet again. Love Uncle Pete xxx”.
Miss Yeates’s university tutor has paid tribute to her, saying “she was destined for great things”.
David Booth, postgraduate programme director in landscape and environment at the University of Gloucestershire, said: “The university community has been deeply saddened by the tragedy of Joanna’s death and our heartfelt condolences are with her family and friends.
“As a student on the postgraduate course in landscape architecture, Jo only studied with us for a year, but in that time she made a strong and lasting impression on staff and students alike with the quality and depth of thinking in her work, setting standards in her research, her written work and in her graphic presentations that her fellow students admired and aspired to.
“Jo had worked in practice inbetween studies and continued to work at BDP in Bristol whilst studying here full-time, her design flair and professional experience showed immediately, especially in her large-scale landscape planning work, which was already at such a high professional standard that any practice would be proud to put their name to it.
“Jo was one of those students who you can tell would be destined for great things and it almost goes without saying that she graduated at the end of her studies in July 2010 with a distinction from her postgraduate diploma.
“Her death is a huge loss to all. She was very well-liked and admired by her peers, she was a very gifted student and a high achiever in all she did. Many of our students have contacted us to say how much of an inspiration she was and that their thoughts are with her family.
“The university is honoured to be able to remember Jo through the giving of an annual landscape design prize in her name sponsored by BDP and hosted by the university as a lasting tribute.”
As well as the tribute, a new photograph of Miss Yeates was released today of her taken in June 2010, showing her looking at a piece of work she produced for her postgraduate diploma show.
After the 30-minute service, the coffin was carried from the church, followed by Mr and Mrs Yeates and about 30 other close family members and friends.
Mrs Yeates was sobbing as they slowly walked to the burial site.
About five minutes later, the remainder of the mourners left the church, some pausing to read the tributes left with the flowers.
Speaking after the funeral, Mr Gilks said it had been a ``quiet and reflective'' service, attended by about 300 people.
“There was a lot of people here, some who had taken great trouble to come here, and there was a very reverend and prayerful atmosphere,” he said.
“There was a huge number of people here who were sat very quiet and that set the tone of the service.
“People were sharing their grief and offering their support to the family.
“It was quiet and reflective more than sombre.
“The family said they didn’t want to make it a celebration, I think it’s too early for that.
“There are things in Jo’s life that give them great joy and the service was about helping with their sense of grief and loss because it’s still very early days since her death.
“There were tributes made to Jo which spoke very warmly of her and very sad prayers for her soul.”
When asked how he believed the family felt, he said: “I think the service is what they wished it to be.
“It’s impossible to say how they might have been feeling because unless you have been in that situation it’s impossible to think what it was like.
“But in the congregation as a whole, there was grief and there were tears.”
Mr Gilks said he had designed the service jointly with the family.
He said: “We worked on it together, we talked about what they particularly wanted out of the service.
“What we tried to create was a service that spoke to their grief and helped them to express it and then to begin to move forward, to lay her body to rest in the churchyard and moving forward to life without her.”
Speaking of the family’s connection to the church, he said: “It is their family church as it is of the whole community.”
The ceremony to commemorate the life of the 25-year-old was held at St Mark’s Church in Ampfield, Hampshire.
The wicker coffin, carried by pallbearers provided by the funeral service, was followed by Miss Yeates’s parents, David and Theresa.
The coffin was adorned with daffodils, small sunflowers and assorted other spring flowers.
Behind them were Miss Yeates’s boyfriend Greg Reardon, his mother, with his father and brother Frank at the rear.
Many of the mourners, some of them travelling from the Bristol area, arrived early at the picturesque village church.
Earlier rain cleared, leaving the church and its wooded surrounding shrouded in a fine mist as friends and family members arrived.
The service was led by the vicar of Ampfield, the Rev Peter Gilks.
It is understood that the service was “very sombre” as the family felt unable to undertake a “celebration” as Miss Yeates’s life was cut so short.
The church was chosen as it has close links to the family and it was where Miss Yeates was christened.
The service was followed by a private interment attended by only very close family members and invited guests.
Miss Yeates worked as a landscape architect at the Bristol office of design firm BDP, alongside Mr Reardon, 27.
She disappeared on Friday December 17 after going for Christmas drinks with colleagues.
Mr Reardon reported her missing after he returned to Bristol on December 19 following a weekend away visiting family in Sheffield.
The university graduate’s frozen body was found dumped on a verge in Longwood Lane, Failand, North Somerset, on Christmas Day, three miles from her home in Canynge Road, Clifton, Bristol.
Miss Yeates’s next-door neighbour Vincent Tabak, 32, has been charged with her murder.
The Dutch engineer, who works at Buro Happold in Bath, is set to stand trial in October.
More than 50 floral tributes were placed outside the church.
These included bunches from friends, family members, Miss Yeates’s employer BDP and Avon and Somerset Police.
A note on one read: “Our Dearest, Jo you will be with us always. Gran and Uncle Clive.”
Another read: “Dear Jo, Your vivacious spirit and considerable presence will not be forgotten.
“I will miss your ever cheerful greetings. Until we meet again. Love Uncle Pete xxx”.
Miss Yeates’s university tutor has paid tribute to her, saying “she was destined for great things”.
David Booth, postgraduate programme director in landscape and environment at the University of Gloucestershire, said: “The university community has been deeply saddened by the tragedy of Joanna’s death and our heartfelt condolences are with her family and friends.
“As a student on the postgraduate course in landscape architecture, Jo only studied with us for a year, but in that time she made a strong and lasting impression on staff and students alike with the quality and depth of thinking in her work, setting standards in her research, her written work and in her graphic presentations that her fellow students admired and aspired to.
“Jo had worked in practice inbetween studies and continued to work at BDP in Bristol whilst studying here full-time, her design flair and professional experience showed immediately, especially in her large-scale landscape planning work, which was already at such a high professional standard that any practice would be proud to put their name to it.
“Jo was one of those students who you can tell would be destined for great things and it almost goes without saying that she graduated at the end of her studies in July 2010 with a distinction from her postgraduate diploma.
“Her death is a huge loss to all. She was very well-liked and admired by her peers, she was a very gifted student and a high achiever in all she did. Many of our students have contacted us to say how much of an inspiration she was and that their thoughts are with her family.
“The university is honoured to be able to remember Jo through the giving of an annual landscape design prize in her name sponsored by BDP and hosted by the university as a lasting tribute.”
As well as the tribute, a new photograph of Miss Yeates was released today of her taken in June 2010, showing her looking at a piece of work she produced for her postgraduate diploma show.
After the 30-minute service, the coffin was carried from the church, followed by Mr and Mrs Yeates and about 30 other close family members and friends.
Mrs Yeates was sobbing as they slowly walked to the burial site.
About five minutes later, the remainder of the mourners left the church, some pausing to read the tributes left with the flowers.
Speaking after the funeral, Mr Gilks said it had been a ``quiet and reflective'' service, attended by about 300 people.
“There was a lot of people here, some who had taken great trouble to come here, and there was a very reverend and prayerful atmosphere,” he said.
“There was a huge number of people here who were sat very quiet and that set the tone of the service.
“People were sharing their grief and offering their support to the family.
“It was quiet and reflective more than sombre.
“The family said they didn’t want to make it a celebration, I think it’s too early for that.
“There are things in Jo’s life that give them great joy and the service was about helping with their sense of grief and loss because it’s still very early days since her death.
“There were tributes made to Jo which spoke very warmly of her and very sad prayers for her soul.”
When asked how he believed the family felt, he said: “I think the service is what they wished it to be.
“It’s impossible to say how they might have been feeling because unless you have been in that situation it’s impossible to think what it was like.
“But in the congregation as a whole, there was grief and there were tears.”
Mr Gilks said he had designed the service jointly with the family.
He said: “We worked on it together, we talked about what they particularly wanted out of the service.
“What we tried to create was a service that spoke to their grief and helped them to express it and then to begin to move forward, to lay her body to rest in the churchyard and moving forward to life without her.”
Speaking of the family’s connection to the church, he said: “It is their family church as it is of the whole community.”
Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/2011/02/11/jo-yeates-funeral-quiet-and-reflective-91466-28157408/#ixzz1DfGWM0K6
