THE body of a Derry nun killed in an earthquake in Ecuador earlier this month is expected to be returned to her family home on Friday ahead of her funeral on Monday.
Sister Clare Crockett (33) died when an earthquake struck Playa Prieta where she had been teaching children music. Her body was found in the remains of a collapsed building following the quake which claimed more than 600 lives.
The damage caused by the tremor, as well as complex administrative demands, led to a long delay in the body being released to be flown home. However, her order, The Home of the Mother, was informed that her remains would be flown from Ecuador this week.
Following a wake this weekend, Sister Clare’s funeral will take place from her family home at Iona Terrace in Derry on Monday for Requiem Mass at St Columba’s church, Long Tower, at noon.
She will be buried afterwards at Derry City Cemetery. Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown is expected to be chief celebrant at Requiem Mass.
Earlier this week, the Home of the Mother Order released a video recording of Sister Clare speaking in 2011 about her decision to become a nun.
In the film she spoke of her wild teenage years and a developing an alcohol problem. She said she told family and friends of her decision to become a nun “with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other.”
Following Sister Clare’s death, a huge fund raising campaign was launched in Derry to raise money for the repatriation of her body. Almost £6,000 was raised through a fund raising page opened on Facebook.
Sister Clare is survived by her mother and father, Margaret and Gerard and her sisters, Shauna and Megan.
