MIRIAM Rullis has been laid to rest with all the love of her close family, in a plot at her family home, ‘Miriamvale’, in Lowanna.

Miriam passed away on Friday 11 February after battling “the worst kind of cancer, a grade 4 glioblastoma brain tumour”, her daughter Melissa told News Of The Area.

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A celebration for Miriam’s life is taking place on Friday 4 March for family and friends.

The gathering will focus on the joy, kindness, generosity and love for life that Miriam showed throughout her life.

The two hour service begins at 11am, at C.ex club auditorium in Coffs Harbour.

“We are turning around the sadness of our loss into happy days – it helps with our recovery,” said Melissa.

“Laughter was mum’s best medicine, especially during her treatment.

“The celebration of mum’s life will have a traditional Mauri element, including a Haka to reflect mum’s Mauri heritage.

“We will also play bingo…mum loved to play bingo.”

Miriam and her husband Victor were perhaps the best-known funeral directors in Coffs Harbour, having set up the business in the mid-1990s.

Victor said, “She was the driving force – it was my name, but she was the cog – the visionary.

“I called her ‘the boss’.

“She was in the background, but she told me where to go and what to do.”

From her creativity to her generous nature, Victor recalls the many ways she touched the community.

“You know she fostered over 50 kids.

“She was a foster kid herself.”

As Victor recalled, everything seemed to come in fours.

“She was born on the 4th, diagnosed on October 4, 2020, with a grade 4 tumour.

“She passed away at 4am, February 11 at the age of 54.”

She never once complained from her diagnosis, through treatment to her death, said Victor.

“She was very private about it.

“She didn’t want people to feel sorry for her because her Christian faith was her strength and truth.”

Her determination allowed her to hide it for some time with family members covering for her – finishing off stories or filling in the blanks when she would falter.

Miriam underwent chemotherapy, radiation and an operation to remove sections of the tumour, but as Victor explained these kinds of tumours are like a spider web.

Navigating the health system was an eye opener for the family and they decided the only option was to care for Miriam at home.

The necessary equipment was purchased – which will be donated to other families with similar circumstances.

On February 11, Victor took a shovel and broke the ground on the first plot on their recently approved private cemetery at their property ‘Miriamvale’ in Lowanna.

The couple’s children each took turns digging the grave and Miriam was laid to rest in a coffin adorned with one of her favourite flowers – sunflowers.

“She designed the coffin herself,” Victor said.

“She was the most incredibly creative person; she could turn a pig’s ear into a silk purse.

“She would stay up until all hours to make things for people and give them away.”

Her last outing was to the Ulong RSL to celebrate her 54th birthday and enjoy one last glass of red wine.

She returned home exhausted and slept for seven days before taking her last breath on February 11.

“The rooster crowed, and I heard her take her last breath,” said Victor.

“Ten minutes later her heart stopped, and the rooster crowed again.

“Throughout all of it I never once saw her cry.

“Until the night before she passed her family surrounded her and sang ‘You are my sunshine’, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

“She always said to keep talking to her till the end as hearing is the last sense to go.”

Miriam loved to celebrate – she even had a chemo party before her first round of treatment with family dressed in matching pyjamas.

Celebrating their love was also a high priority with Victor and Miriam getting married three times: pre-children, as a family with their church community and a recommitment ceremony after her diagnosis.