Cowboy farewell for country fan

Friends and family of the late Terry Hunt, 72, gathered at his wild-west themed funeral where they watched him ride off into the sunset for the final time.

Some came dressed head-to-toe as cowboys and indians, while others accompanied their outfits with a ten 
gallon hat or pair of cowboy boots.

His stepdaughter Sam Jones, 36, said: “Terry was a lovely man. It was me who got him and my mother together.

“She said she would only go out with him if he liked country music, so that’s how his interest started.

“He was like a friend more than a stepdad because I was 19 when they married.

“He asked me to be the best woman at the wedding and to stand out from all the cowboys, me and my brother dressed as indians.

“We all loved that Terry’s old friends could attend the funeral and pull on their cowboy hats again for old time’s sake.”

Terry, from St Annes, who died on August 5 after a long illness, loved country star Raymond Froggatt best of all and the singer’s hit Down by the Sea was played at the end of the funeral.

His final wish was for his funeral to echo his love of cowboy culture, mirroring his wedding to wife Ann, 69, in 1999, when the couple and guests dressed in western gear.

Sam said: “He loved everything to do with it.

“They used to run line-dancing and country and western nights and they used to put on live acts and had a lot of contacts on the country and western circuit, specially in St Annes and Fleetwood.

“However, a few years ago, Terry needed a hip replacement and there were a lot of complications.

“It’s been a great send-off for Terry and has made my mum and the rest of the family very happy.”