IT is not always one gets a delight out of attending the funeral of a friend. But that certainly was the sentiment generated at the requiem Eucharist honouring the life of Laura Jane Elizabeth Simons, the matriarch of the Simons clan of Cedar Hill in particular and perhaps of the whole of Warwick Parish.

She passed away last week just one month after entering her 98th birthday.

We can only describe as wholly inspiring and most uplifting the grand send-off she was given in music as well as in spoken tributes at St. Mary's Warwick Parish Church.

As was expected, the church was packed with relatives and friends from all walks of life. The parish rector, the Rev. Andrew W. Doughty, assisted by the Rev. David Addington and the Rev. Edwin Lambert, conducted the service. Presiding at the organ was Alan Bascome.

Aunt Laura, as she came to be best known during the latter years of her life, was born on September 4, 1905. She was the fourth child and eldest daughter of the late Joseph and Lillian Simons. She had seven brothers, Leonard, McNeil, Earlington, Herbert, Stanley, Clarence and John (who survives) and two sisters, Amice and Lillian.

Her formal schooling came to an end at age 11, when she was obliged to leave school to help her mother care for her younger siblings.

THE lack of formal education did not stifle Laura's love of learning. She became an avid reader and was exemplary in her determination to broaden her knowledge through whatever means were available to her.

As part of such a large farming family, responsibility became second nature to her early in life. She became skilled in childcare, cooking and housekeeping, and was an excellent seamstress. Often she would relate how she helped her father and brothers by day on the farm and spent evenings preparing parsley and onions for sale.

Laura was 24 years old when she became the wife of Edward Bean, to whom she was introduced at a choir meeting at St. Paul's Church in Paget. Her obituary noted how they became a fashionable and sociable couple, and how she took pride in her husband's musical abilities and in the popularity of his band.

He was also a carpenter by trade and built their home at Cedar Hill, where she lived for the rest of her life. The marriage was childless; her husband predeceased her in 1976.

Laura maintained an active interest in community affairs, being a member of the Bermuda Welfare Society and Sunshine League. She had a love for the growing and arranging of flowers, was a member of her church's flower guild and one of the founding members of the Hibiscus Garden Club in 1959, and later a member of the Loyal Mayflower of Day Lodge of Manchester Unity Oddfellows.

Her hobbies included playing cards and doing word puzzles, at which was particularly adept. Like many Bermudians who came of age in the first half of the 20th century, Laura rode a bicycle or walked miles on errands or visiting; as a result she maintained an impressive level of fitness well into her old age.

It was the good fortune of this writer to get to know Mrs. Bean when she was well into her seventies. It was through the Lodge, where we shared many a festive board playing cards, and we were able to tap into her vast font of knowledge about historical events and people.

At the funeral on Sunday, Walter Sharpe, leading vestryman at St. Mary's Church, gave a testament to her lovely sense of humour and keen wit, in his tribute on behalf of the church and community.

"Aunt Laura," he said, "was in every sense a lady, refined, dignified, elegant, proud and above all independent. She was devoted to her church, absolutely confident in her faith but still very much a person of this world."

He added that her memory was fantastic and she had many interesting stories to tell about her long life, which, often not easy, was rich in tradition and family. She often said she was sure the good Lord intended that she not have children of her own, because as the eldest daughter of a large family she had washed so many diapers that she had done more than her share in caring for children.

PROMINENT among Mrs. Bean's five generations of nieces, nephews and other relatives were former Minister of Education Gerald Simons and former Senator and now Alderman of the Hamilton Corporation Reginald Minors.

Gerald said he never ceased to marvel at how his aunt had cultivated such an independent spirit and keen sense of business in spite of her having to quit school at age 11.

She was the matriarch of her family, kept abreast of their achievements, right down to her great-great nieces and nephews. She marvelled at the pace of new technology, and while exercising her right to learn how to use certain new-fangled items, the concept of change never seemed to overwhelm her.

Her sole surviving sibling is her brother John and his wife Ivy, who have their own clan of Cedar Hill Simonses.