Conwy Valley man's tributes to loving wife

Sep 16 2010 by Samantha Castle, North Wales Weekly News

TRIBUTES have been paid to a dedicated charity worker and wildlife enthusiast from Capel Curig who lost her long fight with cancer.

Lucinda Manouch passed away following a long battle with cervical cancer late on Friday night, aged just 37.

The keen photographer, who has taken pictures of the Queen celebrating her 80th birthday and helped highlight the plight of Tanzania orphans with her work, had planned her own funeral.

Attended by family and friends including her husband Alan, her intimate service was held on Monday at Boduan Eternal Forest with a reception at Plas-y-Brenin Mountain Centre in Capel Curig, where she once worked.

“Being terminally ill she was able to plan her own funeral, right to the very last detail,” said Alan.

“She wanted to have an eco-friendly funeral so had a beautiful wicker coffin and planned her service at the Eternal Forest where they plant trees for people. She never once complained about her illness and constantly thought of others.

“She loved Country and Western music so songs including Bright Eyes, Amazing Grace and Leaving on a Jet Plane were sung at the service. Poems were also read aloud including her favourite, We are Seven.

“She loved life and helping people and despite the cancer we were able to go on holiday together before she passed away. We got to see the Northern Lights in the Shetlands and visit friends in Belfast and Norfolk. She even managed a cycle round Anglesey.

“She outlived her prognosis after being given just three weeks to live in December, and it’s also due to her incredible strength that we were able to see in her 37th birthday in July, my birthday and our eleventh wedding anniversary together.

“I’ve done so much because of Lu, and she will be greatly missed by everyone who knew her.”

Plas-y-Brenin chief executive Martin Doyle said Lucinda will be remembered as a lover of wildlife and as a great canoeist. He said: “Lu was our chief barmaid for many years and everyone remembers her fondly. She will be sadly missed not only for her selfless promotion of wildlife but for her canoeing too.”

When Lucinda was 34 she became the first Briton to canoe single-handedly on the River Obre in Poland, despite suffering from lupus, an auto-immune disease, at the time.

Neighbour and farmer Gwilym Ross said he remembers Lucinda always having a camera in her hand whenever he met her. He added: “She was always taking photos of me tending to my sheep.

“She never once complained about being ill and will be terribly missed in the community of Capel Curig.”