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Dozens of Royal Mail vans lined the streets of Ilkeston to show their respects for their long-standing colleague Lee Woolley at his funeral.
Lee, 48, died on July 2 after a three-year battle with cancer. Lee had been a postman for 24 years and his whole workplace showed up in their Royal Mail vans to line the streets of Ilkeston. Around two dozen vans showed up to the funeral, but before that they led a procession through the streets of Ilkeston.
Sarah Leanne Hearson, Lee’s sister, said: “He was kind and friendly, just everybody loved him and he was dealt this unfortunate fate of cancer. He battled on and off for three years. He’s leaving his wife Vanessa and unborn child Emily so it’s so undeserved. He was very approachable and always smiling, everybody knew him. He was friendly and polite. He never had a bad word to say about anybody.”
Ilkeston Royal Mail had also arranged multiple wreaths for the funeral, including one that read “Royal Mail” and one in the shape of a first-class stamp.
After leading the funeral procession the vans lined the streets outside the chapel and the loyal posties gathered to clap the hearse into the grounds.
(Image: Sarah Leanna Hearson)
Sarah didn’t know about the plans that Lee’s delivery office had for the funeral until the morning of. She said: “When I woke up in the morning for the funeral I was stressed. I felt nervous, but then when I arrived at his house I just saw a line of red going all the way up the street. It brought me such a nice feeling, the comfort and care of the people coming out for him.”
Sarah continued: “The sheer amount of people that came to the funeral as well was mind-blowing. It helped, it’s hard to explain but it did, just seeing how many people cared.”
One of Lee’s best friends who runs the Urban Chicken ale brewery also made a beer in honour of his memory, and Sarah said that the beer can be found in multiple pubs around Derbyshire.
The show of support from Royal Mail was down to the delivery office’s manager Lisa, who had organised the show of support. Sarah said: “It was wonderful to see, it was mind-blowing, I’ve got so much respect for Ilkeston Royal Mail.”
