Eighty-nine years ago, Cassie McLaughlin gave birth to premature twins after she had been kicked by a cow she was milking on the family farm near Macosquin, Co Derry.
One of the babies sadly did not live, but the other, weighing just 2lb and struggling to breathe, was rushed to St Mary’s Star Of The Sea Church in Portstewart to be baptised.
Named Gerald, he not only survived but thrived, displaying the tenacity, determination and joy for life that would define the rest of his days.
As a young man, he would again defy medical predictions after attending the doctor with what he thought was a pulled chest muscle.
He was examined and given a letter to bring to the hospital, which he duly opened on returning home. It read: “This man’s heart is deteriorating and he will never be able to do a day’s manual work.”
Gerry looked at his wife Bernadette, ripped it up and placed it in the hearth, declaring: “God made me, God can take me, I don’t belong to me.” And the next day he began working as a labourer on building of the Monsanto factory in Coleraine.
In a life shaped by a deep faith and love for his fellow man, he would work hard to support his large family by driving taxis, a mineral lorry, as a binman, as a wages clerk and for the Department of Environment, before finding his vocation standing up for the underdog as a trade unionist, winning many tribunal cases.
That led to involvement in local politics, and at the age of 58 he was elected for the SDLP to Coleraine Borough Council, a seat he would hold for the next 20 years before retiring finally in 2013.
There he dedicated himself to fighting injustice, working tirelessly for anyone who requested his help.
On his retirement, he said the advice given by his father Eddie – “Always keep a civil tongue in your head” – had kept him in good stead.
His friend Maurice Bradley, now a DUP MLA, said he was a “kind, loving, loyal man whose word was his bond and his integrity beyond reproach”.
Former SDLP colleague John Dallat, now deceased, said simply: “Gerry was fearless.”
His funeral at St Mary’s Star of the Sea, where he had asked to be returned to receive his final blessing, heard a moving tribute from his daughter Stephanie Quigley, who succeeded him on Coleraine council.
She said he was a “voice for the voiceless, he spoke truth to power and believed everyone deserved to be treated with dignity and justice”.
“He had the biggest heart for the poor and the marginalised and we could tell stories all day of the good deeds he did,” she said.
“I remember in the storm of 2010, he had to have his Christmas dinner re-heated five times as his phone never stopped while he helped people in crisis situations.
“Everything he did for others was rooted in his deep compassion and he never forgot his working-class roots.”
Always happy and smiling, at home Gerry was also a source of enormous strength, wisdom and fun for his 11 children, 30 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren and nine-great-great-grandchildren – 80 descendants in total.
His rock, however, was his wife Bernadette. They recently celebrated 68 years of marriage, founded on an unshakeable love for each other and faith in God.
“He had lots of sayings – he used to tell us ‘I would fight a lion for you’, and that ‘Good manners and kindness will take you further than a Rolls Royce’,” said Stephanie.
“He would come back to our Housing Executive home with all the animals of the day – a pet lamb, a goat, stray dogs, horses, a fox cub he named Francis, and even a ferret.
“On camping trips to south, he always insisted on bringing another child who needed a holiday – he was a daddy to the fatherless too.
“We thank God for the gift of a daddy like you, for a love that knew no limits, and for showing us how to live life well.”
Gerry McLaughlin died peacefully at his Coleraine home on September 10. Never losing his humour, on his deathbed he told his family “Adios, amigos”.
He is survived by his wife and children Donna, Cathy, Gerry, Colette, Dominic, Gemma, Stephanie, Gary, Richard and Amy. He was predeceased by his daughter Louise.