A Sixmilecross woman who worked as a nurse and midwife was remembered at her Requiem Mass.

Emma Owens was born in Killeeshil on 4 July 1949. Her father James was killed in a farm accident, leaving her as the youngest of seven children. Fr Brendan McCaul told mourners that this event profoundly shaped her life and that she became fiercely independent from a young age. She later spent significant time with her aunt and uncle, Mary and Tommy Donnelly.

She trained as a nurse at the Mater Hospital in Belfast, qualifying in 1969, and worked as a midwife in the city during the early years of the Troubles.

Mrs Owens met her husband Eugene and they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary after 50 years of marriage. She is survived by Eugene, their five children and nine grandchildren.

The family moved to Sixmilecross in 1978, where she took up posts at South Tyrone Hospital in Dungannon and later Tyrone County Hospital. She subsequently retrained as a health visitor.

Fr McCaul said that she formed lasting relationships and had an exceptional recall for those she encountered. He also highlighted her deep faith and her friendship with the late Fr Francis Quigley, a former parish priest in Beragh. She is survived by her brother Brian, who lives in Ecuador.