Hundreds gather to farewell Hannah McGuire at Doveton Park Funeral Centre in Ballarat
Family and friends — including some big name Essendon players — have gathered to bid farewell to Hannah McGuire in emotional scenes in Ballarat on Monday.
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Hundreds of people packed out a Ballarat funeral centre on Monday afternoon as friends and family came together to remember Clunes woman Hannah McGuire.
A service at Doveton Park Funeral Centre comprised speeches by loved ones, a selection of Ms McGuire’s favourite music, and visual presentations, including from staff and students at Delacombe Primary School, where Ms McGuire, 23, worked.
Hannah’s mother Debbie McGuire said the gathering was to celebrate “Hannah’s life and all the things that made her the amazing daughter that she was.”
“We come together with great sadness, but also with thanks for the time we had with her,” she said.
“... We miss the way your presence made everything feel right.”
Friend Nicole Van Berkel called Ms McGuire a “ray of sunshine”.
“Her smile could light up an entire room,” she said.
Among the mourners was Essendon captain Zach Merrett as the beloved teaching aide was farewelled.
A number of other Essendon players were also in the crowd, Ms McGuire being the cousin of Bomber Nick Hind.
Cars lined several streets near the Ballarat North funeral centre on Monday and a crowd of hundreds spilled outside.
Many attendees embraced one another in tears as the funeral ended, and the hearse then proceeded to Creswick Cemetery.
Ms McGuire’s body was found in a burnt-out car in bushland near State Forest Rd in Scarsdale earlier this month.
Her ex-boyfriend Lachlan Young, 21, was charged with murder and remanded in custody.
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