Memory of Kerry woman who strived to help others during COVID to be honoured at special walk

Patricia passed away peacefully in October of last year and now, as a way of giving back to the service that looked after her so well in her final weeks and days, Patricia’s former colleagues in Garvey’s Supervalu in Tralee – where she worked for 10 years – have organised the walk, which will take place on Sunday May 19.

Speaking to The Kerryman this week, Sandra Lynch, a manager at the Garvey’s Tralee store, spoke glowingly of Patricia and said that her innate generosity and kindness for others shone through during the COVID pandemic.

"Sandra’s grandchildren, they were saying that they'd love to do something for their nana and we said that we would love to do a walk in her name. We felt that it was a good way to remember her,” said Sandra this week.

“She was very highly thought of and generous. One of the biggest things she did was during COVID, she was charge of all the shopping and honest to god, there wouldn't have been an elderly person in town that was left without anything, all because of her."

“There were some times that she used to drive to houses and collect shopping lists from elderly people on her way home. There was nothing like her, she was just determined to make sure that no-one was left stuck,” Sandra continued.

Going on, Sandra said that she and the rest of the staff got to witness first-hand the amazing work that the Palliative Care did and so, they knew that they had to give back.

"She was in Palliative Care for about two months there towards the end. They are just brilliant up there, we went up and visited her. I had never been there myself and we just couldn't believe how homely it was and the amazing work that they do. Seeing that sparked in us the idea that we wanted to do something for them,” she said.

On the day, the walk will set off from 11am from the Tralee store and go and do one to two laps of the Tralee Town Park before heading back to the store for some refreshments and snacks. There will also be plenty of spot prizes to be won on the day too.

There is currently a bucket collection taking place for the Palliative Care Unit at all the tills in the store if anyone wishes to donate; raffle tickets will also be sold on the day of the walk as well to raise extra funds.