Radio personality mourned at Down Cathedral
Hundreds of people attended the funeral of the well known gardening expert, broadcaster and columnist John Cushnie in Down Cathedral on Sunday 3rd January. He died suddenly of a heart attack on New Year's Eve, aged 66.
In what he described as a "personal and very simple" service, Dean Henry Hull paid tribute to the Killyleagh man but reminded mourners that even though John had been such a well-known figure, he was "first and foremost a family man, and it is his family who will feel his loss the most".
Dean Hull said that John had taken up gardening from an early age and had later set up his own business, making his hobby his career.
He referred to the tributes that had been paid over the last few days, saying: "Common to what everyone has said is not just John's immense knowledge of gardening, but his humour, wit and down-to-earth manner, his kindness, friendliness and above all the warmth of his personality."
Dean Hull said that John had been a very gifted and talented person, who had used his talents to enrich the lives of others.
For 15 years John was a regular panellist on Gardeners' Question Time. Among his many admirers was BBC Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer, who said that Cushnie "laced every programme with warmth and joy", and praised his wit and his "unrelenting sympathy for fellow gardeners".
He became a regular columnist for The Daily Telegraph’s Saturday gardening supplement, while also contributing to a range of specialist publications, among them the magazines Gardens Illustrated and Gardeners’ World, Ireland’s Homes Interior & Living and the Belfast News Letter. He gave frequent talks, workshops and after-dinner speeches in Northern Ireland and across Britain, and published a number of books.
Among the mourners were many representatives of the media, North Down MP Lady Sylvia Hermon, and Strangford MLA Michelle McIlveen.
John is survived by his wife, Wilma, sons Simon and Richard, and daughter Laura. He was a member of the congragation of Down Cathedral and following the service, a private family ceremony took place in the adjoining burial ground.