Mourners attend funeral of Lady Runcie at St Albans Cathedral (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

Mourners attend funeral of Lady Runcie at St Albans Cathedral

4:17pm Friday 3rd February 2012 in News

The funeral of Lady Runcie took place at St Albans Cathedral today.

Lindy, as she was known, was wife of the late Lord Runcie, former Archbishop of Canterbury and mother to Rebecca and James. She died on 12 January at the age of 79.

A Choral Requiem was sung at the service, and Lady Runcie’s daughter Rebecca Tabor did a reading. Her grand-daughter Charlotte Runcie read “Music” by Walter de la Mare.

During Communion, Diana Montague, the soloist sang Bist du bei mir, by JS Bach and the Cathedral Choir sang Agnus Dei from Faure’s Requiem and Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus.

Mourners travelled from all over the country, and further afield, to attend the funeral. Among them were Jane Williams and Canon Michael Camp, representing the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Revd Dr Rowan Williams, who was travelling abroad and unable to attend.

A message from the Archbishop to the congregation paid tribute to Lindy as one of those figures who, through her “formidable intelligence, her subversive humour and her powerful creativity, saved the Church of England from greyness”.

He said: “She would not thank us though, for remembering her primarily as an Archbishop’s wife: she was Robert’s wife, Rebecca and James’s mother and supremely her own woman, with the enormous gifts as a musician, both performer and teacher, that we knew so well. Her friendship was a joy and tonic and a gift from God.”

The Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Richard Chartres, who was Chaplain to Robert Runcie when he was Bishop of St Albans from 1970 to 1980 and at Lambeth Palace when he became Archbishop, preached.

His sermon spoke of her zest for life.

The Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Dr Alan Smith, speaking before the service, remembered his own friendship with Lindy, formed since coming to St Albans.

He said: “With her huge personality and irrepressible zest for life, Lindy was well known around the diocese and beyond. She had a positive influence on many lives right up to the time of her death, not least through her teaching. Her wide circle of friends will miss her.”

The Dean of St Albans, the Very Revd Jeffrey John, added his own tribute following the service.

He said: “Lindy loved St Albans Abbey and was much loved here herself. She was a wonderfully faithful, funny, honest, energizing presence, and will be very much missed.”

The Rt Revd Christopher Herbert, Bishop of St Albans from 1994-2008 was also present. Other leading church figures attending were the Rt Revd Graham James, Bishop of Norwich who led prayers, the Rt Revd Stephen Platten, Bishop of Wakefield, The Rt Revd Christopher Hill, Bishop of Guildford, the Rt Revd Paul Bayes, the Bishop of Hertford, the Rt Revd David Farmbrough, now Honorary Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of St Albans and the Rt Revd Mark Santer, the retired Bishop of Birmingham. Bishop David was Archdeacon of St Albans from 1974 to 1981 and then Bishop of Bedford from 1981 to 1993.

Following the service, there was a private committal attended by immediate family. Lady Runcie was buried in the North Churchyard of St Albans Cathedral, with Lord Runcie.

A collection was taken for the Rosalind Runcie Memorial Fund, which is being set up to encourage young people to achieve excellence in their piano playing through the establishment of a competition and the provision of bursaries for pianists at the schools where Lady Runcie taught.

Further donations can be sent to St Albans School.