Yahoo News Tragic teenager taken to her funeral by fleet of ice cream vans
A tragic teen who died just before Christmas was taken to her own funeral by a fleet of ice cream vans.
Lydia Eleanor Mary Cole, 18, spent her summers selling ice creams from the back of a van and died a few years after an operation to help stop seizures she suffered throughout her teens.
A fleet of the traditional vans escorted the loyal employee to her final resting place – including one towing a trailer holding her coffin.
Friends said she was well known in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, and spent her summers selling 99s for Scott of M&M ice creams who arranged the fleet.
She was laid to rest at All Angels Church, Walford, on January 11, after she died on December 20.
Lydia’s nieces, aged five and seven, wrote a poem remembering their patient aunt and her ice creams.
The poem reads: “Loved by all from near and far. Aunty Lydia always has and will always be our shining star.
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“You taught us so much like singing and dancing. We would spend hours in your room laughing and prancing.
“Down to the park where you would always take us. It was always so much fun and never a fuss.
“Ice creams from you were always the best. For me and Caitlyn they were a million times yummier than the rest.
“And now it’s time to say goodbye, never ever forgotten as you fly up high into the sky.”
The traditional ice cream vans were provided as a touching tribute by Scott of M&M ice creams, Lydia’s former employer.
Afterwards free cones were handed out as mourners gathered at Bishopswood Village Hall in the Forest of Dean.
During the funeral the congregation heard that Lydia was an expert on serving up the perfect Mr Whippy, along with some cheeky banter.
Her sister Rachel Llewellyn, 27, explained: “She worked on the ice cream vans every summer for years.
“She’d run out of school, jump in the van and work all over the area.”
Lydia leaves behind devastated parents Sandra and Simeon and siblings Hannah, Rachel and James.
