THE son of a well-known funeral director who was killed in a motorcycle accident on Sunday has told of how “he died doing something he really loved”.
Robin Steenson, 71, from Cookstown, died following a collision on the M1 motorway near the junction for Coalisland at about 5.15pm on Sunday.
It is understood he was travelling on the country-bound lane when his motorbike struck the central reservation.
Mr Steenson, who was director of R Steenson & Son, had just returned from a summer break in the Alps with his wife Gillian days before he died.
Bryan Steenson said his father had been “with other bikers who regularly rode together”.
“He loved his biking,” he said. “He was a driving instructor in cars, bikes and HGVs for many years and that is what makes it hard to understand.
“He had been a funeral director as well for a long, long time. My father was third generation funeral director and I am fourth.”
Mr Steenson said he was “surprised” at the number of calls his family had received from around the world about his father’s death.
“But I suppose I shouldn’t be,” he said.
“My father was very sociable. He was involved in everything over the years from the Rotary Club to ski clubs and trade associations.
“He was a member of Cookstown Methodist Church. He was also one of the first funeral directors in Ulster to train in embalming.
“Many are trained now, but in the 1980s that wasn’t the case.
“He worked as part of a team of embalmers who travelled to various disasters around the world.”
Mr Steenson said he had been working with his father in the family business for the last 20 years.
“He had a good life but we expected it to go on for a few more years, which makes it harder to take in,” he said.
He will be sorely missed by his wife Gillian, son Bryan, daughter Helen and his four grandchildren who were his pride and joy.
Mr Steenson’s funeral will be strictly private at his request.
UUP Cookstown councilllor Trevor Wilson said he wanted to extend his “deepest sympathies to the Steenson family at this hard, hard time”.