When a Dundee-born war veteran died in a nursing home, he was set to have a “lonely funeral” with only two people attending.
But today, Stewart Cooney, who fought in the Second World War, is due to be buried with over 100 mourners after a social media appeal to give him a good send-off was launched.
Cooney was 95 when he died in a Leeds home, having outlived his wife and their adoptive son.
Dougie Eastwood, a trainer for the care service running the nursing home, was upset at the thought of the veteran having no one but a carer and a social worker to mourn him.
He told the BBC: “We’re in the world for such a short time, no-one deserves to go to the grave without being recognised.”
“I asked one of the nurses about Stewart and she told me he had been in World War Two.
“He was in the Royal Artillery and served in Egypt and Sicily. It didn’t feel right someone who served his country should pass by unnoticed.”
Dougie got in touch with the local military barracks to see if they could provide any soldiers for the service and appealed for people to attend the funeral via social media and through the local press.
He was amazed by the response, with 40 phone calls offering support and assistance.
He added: “Shops have rung up asking if they can send flowers.
“The Royal Legion, Royal Artillery among others have offered escorts. I’m humbled by how the army family and local community have come together.”
Stewart Cooney was born in Dundee in 1921 and trained to be a jute weaver at 16, before enlisting in the Royal Artillery in 1943.
He married Betty, a telephonist in the Royal Artillery in Midlothian in 1944 and the couple adopted a son, Niall, in 1953.
Later the family moved to Farsley, near Leeds, where the former soldier worked at a mill, looking after weaving machines.
His wife passed away in 2008 and their adopted son died in 2014.
Cooney was described by carers as “lovely” and “cheeky”, a “pleasant” man who loved to sing Frank Sinatra songs.
At the funeral, the coffin will be piped into the crematorium and soldiers from a number of regiments will be present, with the Last Post being played.
The coffin will then be escorted for burial in Pudsey, West Yorkshire.