Michael Lyttle - An Appreciation

Our Uncle Mickey was born on 28/11/1939 to Michael and Hannah Lyttle and originally lived in Hamilton Street.

He had two brothers, Sean and Martin, and two sisters, Collette and Teresa. He met our aunt (Margaret Doherty) and they married on 15/01/1962 and the rest, as they say, is history.

Mickey and Margaret had four children and eight grandchildren and were never apart. They were like two peas in a pod and you rarely saw one without the other.

Mickey worked for Duffy’s Chemist in Ferryquay Street, Smyth’s Wholesale Chemist and then in McLoones Wine Merchants until his retirement.

He was a brilliant connoisseur of fine wines and spirits despite being a tee totaller all his life!!

A simple ordinary life you may say, but our Uncle Mickey was extraordinary to us.

My earliest memory is of Uncle Mickey chopping sticks in our back yard with one of us in the high chair singing ‘There’s a hole in the bucket’ and us laughing away. Another memory is being taken by Uncle Mickey and Aunt Margaret to the Odeon to see the Sound of Music and being spoiled rotten with treats. To this day I still remember walking back up Patrick Street to their car and feeling sad the night was over.

He loved his food, especially sweet stuff, and remember going to Carnhill for Aunt Margaret’s famous home baked apple cake which was and still is infamous!!!

They lived in High Park, Carnhill, Collon Lane,back to Carnhill and eventually to Elmgrove. They made great friends wherever they lived and never forgot them in their various moves.

Uncle Mickey had a great love of Manchester United and in particular his idol Harry Gregg. There were many heated debates about Man United v Liverpool etc where the usually quiet Uncle Mickey could become very animated!!

He devoted his time to Aunt Margaret, his family and to his religion.

He was totally involved with the parish collecting the money during the Mass, counting afterwards, running the bingo and always attending weekly mass. He was a deeply religious man in his own quiet way but also very non judgemental. As my two sisters and I grew up, became teenagers and made the mistakes in life that we all do Uncle Mickey never swayed in his love for us. A rare attribute that we will never forget.

He gave of his time freely. He visited his brothers and sisters regularly, especially in their times of need. He helped take care of his brother in law (Father Jimmy) when his Multiple Sclerosis left him housebound. Uncle Mickey took turns with other family members doing overnight shifts so that Jimmy could be cared for by family.

I last spoke to Uncle Mickey on his mobile the Tuesday night of the week before he died in the Foyle Hospice. He was weak but I did chuckle when I heard the tea trolley coming in and of course the usual refrain....... ‘Aye I’ll take a wee biscuit’!!!

Our Uncle Mickey was a humble man full of love, strength and encouragement to us all. We will never forget him and in these difficult times could not let his passing go unheralded.

Forever in our hearts,

Margaret, Helena and Janice xxx