Munster pet helpline founder 'was comforting voice at other end of the phone'
Friends and volunteers bring the remains of Elly (Lucy) O’Shea on her final journey, at the Island Crematorium in Ringaskiddy on Thursday. Picture: Larry Cummins
The funeral service of a woman who reunited thousands of missing animals with their owners heard her wishes were to have her ashes scattered with “those of her pets who had gone before her”.
Elly (Lucy) O’Shea, nee Vernon, from Carrigtwohill Co Cork, died on September 2 after a lengthy battle with a rare skin disease.
The 75-year-old founded Munster Lost and Found Pet Helpline in Cork 25 years ago and was well known as the woman with “the comforting voice at the other end of the phone”.
“When people were in distress over the loss of their pets, Elly was able to comfort them, very few met her, but they knew her voice” her colleague and co-founder Lindsay Kelly told the .
On Thursday, 30 friends and volunteers formed a guard of honour for Elly at the Island Crematorium, in Ringaskiddy, for the poignant service for the “extraordinary woman with a powerful voice”.
Ms Kelly said “What many people don’t know is that she was once a backing singer with The Who and Van Morrison. She released two singles also.
“We played Van Morrison's Friday’s Child as her remains entered the crematorium. She also loved Elvis Presley’s I can’t help falling in love with you, Elly fell in love with every animal she saved”.
The short service, which was overseen by Cork celebrant Ger Gunn, heard how Elly came to Ireland 25 years ago after moving from the US.
Born Lucy Vernon on May 21, 1948, she was brought up in “the tinsel town of Hollywood” in Santa Monica, California, USA. News of her birth was published in the local papers.
Her family relocated to the UK when Elly was young. Her father Richard Vernon was an established film producer at Elstree Studios and her mother Felicity was an actress, and ballet dancer.
Friend and volunteer Suzanne Flynn told the congregation Elly lived with her family in Hove in Brighton, where she spent many happy childhood years playing on the beach with her border collie Duska.
“Duska would herd Elly and her friends’ home when it was time to go,” she said. “Her childhood cats Grace and Boots were dearly loved by her, as were her little pet mice.
“Elly most of all adored her dad, who was the local animal person to whom any little creature, injured or ill, was brought. She kept all of their ashes when they died”.
She followed in the creative footsteps of her father and mother, learning to play the piano and guitar before her distinctive voice began to receive recognition.
The music industry came knocking when she was in her 20s and Elly became a backing singer. She was also signed with RCA records.
When her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Elly cared for him. After his death she married and moved back to the USA turning her back on music.
Ms Flynn said Elly was drawn to the animal shelters and promoted to director of Pets Unlimited in San Francisco.
“She lived in the countryside. We loved hearing the stories about her delight when the moose came to the windows with their babies in search of food.
“Elly also had to keep her own pets safe at all times as the coyotes often wandered nearby”.
In the 90s, Elly moved to Patrick Street in Cork with her husband, however, her marriage ended, and she found herself “alone in a strange country”.
“She fell on very hard times” said Elly's friend and co-founder Linsday Kelly. “But in the midst of all that tragedy, a glimmer of hope shone one day when Elly spotted a little dog running on Patrick Street.
“Toby jumped into her arms. It was whilst looking for Toby’s possible owners Elly became aware of the plight of lost and abandoned animals in Ireland”.
With the help of the ’s Pink Pages, Elly began working with lost pets and then set up the Munster Missing Lost and Found Pet Helpline a year later with Lindsay Kelly — who was to become her lifelong friend.
“She was more than a friend, she was family,” said Ms Kelly. “She told us bits and pieces about her life, but she was also very private. People only knew her from the phone and she worked 24 hours a day answering calls and helping people find their pets”.
Elly had been diagnosed with scleroderma in her 40s — a rare disease that involves the hardening and tightening of the skin, which can also cause blood disease.
Ms Kelly said: “She kept going for the animals. We knew she was very ill because she had beautiful long hair that was always tied up. Then suddenly it was hanging down.
“We knew she suffered the loss of all of that creativity. She would pick up a guitar to play and stop a few seconds later. It was too painful for her.
“When Glastonbury was on, she would get up and walk away. That was once her life. Then it was all gone, and she must have been hurting so much.”
However, she added that saving animals was “the one dream that did come true”.
“Elly lost everything except her kindness and compassion,” said Ms Kelly.
“All of her pets that died from America were cremated and travelled with her over the years, and her wishes were to have her ashes scattered with them and for the Munster Lost and Found Pet Helpline and Shelter to continue. It would be a lovely legacy for her”.
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