Jess and Giselle Greig’s family, friends say goodbye at Victory College funeral
Jessica and Giselle Greig have been remembered as “an amazing mother and an amazing friend” in a heartbreaking funeral for the Gympie mother and daughter who tragically died following a car accident near Toowoomba.
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Jessica and Giselle Greig have been remembered as “an amazing mother and an amazing friend” in a heartbreaking funeral for the Gympie mother and daughter who tragically died following a horrific car accident near Toowoomba in early July.
It was standing room only at Victory College’s church as more than 200 of the Greig’s family and friends packed the auditorium just before midday, with countless more watching on a live-stream.
Pastor George Miller led the proceedings for Jessica, 29, and Giselle, 12, whose January birthdays were only two days apart and sadly died on the same day, on July 8.
Jessica’s husband and Giselle’s father, Alex, is still fighting for his life in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital following the crash, which occurred when the family’s SUV collided with a truck on the Toowoomba-Cecil Plains Road at Mt Irving near Toowoomba.
The two youngest children, Jett and Oceana, survived the crash.
Mother and grandmother Ellen Turnbull delivered a heartfelt, and at times humorous, eulogy to the tear filled room, remembering her daughter’s interest in ballet from a young age until she gave it up because there was “too much drama and too many divas”.
She said Jessica was an “adventurous” and “sporty” teenager who called Giselle “my saving grace” when she fell pregnant with her at a young age.
The close age gap created a unique bond between the pair.
In a letter written by Giselle when she was young and read out by Mrs Turnbull, the Victory College student said she and her mother “are so much like sisters because we want the same puppy and have the same hairstyle … you are so, so, so amazing and I love you”.
Mrs Turnbull recalled Giselle’s love of gymnastics, always tumbling and doing handstands and the splits whenever she could.
“She was truly a special girl,” she said.
And there was another surprise passion too.
In an essay Mrs Turnbull found only last week at the Greig’s house, Giselle had declared (in capital letters) “I love hunting” because it allowed her to be herself and with her family, even if her younger brother slept through the gunshots.
Giselle’s school friends who attended the funeral delivered their own tribute in a five minute video filled with footage of them having fun together.
“We’re so sad to see her go”, “we’re going to miss her a lot” and “the most beautiful girl I have ever met in my whole entire life” were among the tear-filled tributes recorded by Giselle’s friends, and – capturing the heart of the tragedy – “they did not deserve what they got”.
At the end of the memorial, Jessica’s and Giselle’s caskets were carried by family down a corridor of Victory students and to the waiting hearse.
A pair of white doves was then released into the sky.
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