On the night they first met, Micky Earley introduced himself to his future wife Veronica as Superman. She had injured herself whilst dancing and he had come to her rescue.

From that moment their relationship bloomed, and it was the beginning of 13 years of adventure together.

On Thursday February 21, Veronica Earley passed away peacefully following a brave two year battle with cancer. Her husband Micky was by her side.

As Monsignor Peter O’Reilly led a very personal sermon at Veronica’s funeral on Saturday, he commented that although many men can wear the Superman t-shirt, it’s one thing to wear it, but it’s another to live it.

“I know he was making a reference to me standing by Veronica’s side the whole way through it,” said an emotional Micky.

“As I said to Veronica when she was given her diagnosis, it wasn’t just her, it was us. That’s how we dealt with everything. If we were told bad news, we’d face it together,” said Micky.

“I had promised her in our vows, through sickness and in health and that’s what it was, and I done it without realising it. I felt like I was just doing what I could do for her and if the shoe had been on the other foot, I know Veronica would have done the same, if not more,” he added.

Of the 13 years they were together, Veronica and Micky were married for six and a half of them. Remembering their wedding day with pride, Micky said: “I couldn’t have asked for a better wedding, it was just perfect. Women dream of their fairy tale wedding and Veronica, she got it.”

Sharing a love of travel, not long after their relationship began Veronica had organised for her and Micky to visit New York, a place she had once lived.

Sharing that Veronica encouraged his adventurous side, Micky added: “At the time it was the furthest I’d travelled and it gave me the taste of going out and travelling the world.”

For their honeymoon, Veronica and Micky went on a “one off, opportunity of a life time cruise” from Vancouver to Hawaii and during the trip they made good friends with another couple. “We’d been in touch with them since, sadly the man also lost his wife, shortly after the cruise, and he sent me a lovely message the other day saying that Veronica and his wife would be on the big cruise ship in the sky,” shared Micky.

Veronica was very family orientated and was affectionately called Wonder V, due to her caring personality.

“When her mum passed, it was a hard time for us but Veronica just literally picked up the reins and continued on. To everybody in the family she was literally the mother figure.

“Our home, her family grew up in that home, and it was always the place to go, Halloween, Christmas, Veronica always arranged these wee parties for everybody,” explained Micky.

Explaining that Veronica was a “ball of nerves” when she was first introduced to his daughter Jodie, Micky said: “She felt that she really had to impress my daughter even though my daughter was six or seven at the time but yet they hit it off like nothing normal.”

He added that Veronica became a great influence to Jodie and even inspired her to follow a career in catering.

“It was heart-warming to see Jodie wanting to do this and I could see where she was getting it from. Veronica had all the time in the world for everybody,” added Micky.

On Valentine’s Day this year, Micky and Veronica spent the day together at South West Acute Hospital. “Veronica had painted a wee mug for me, and she’d decorated it with a Superman symbol on it.

“She’d drew it on freehand and there was just a wee message underneath it. It was just a lovely touch,” said Micky. “I really wasn’t expecting it to be our last Valentine’s Day.”

Over the last few months, Micky, with the help of Veronica’s family, had been organising a fundraiser to help Veronica return home by making her house wheelchair accessible. Raising the funds they required within 24 hours of setting up the fundraising page, Micky commented that he and Veronica were blown away by the support of their local community.

He added: “To us it was to make the house as comfortable as possible for Veronica and unfortunately it was just the Monday before anything had happened, last Monday, that we had the work starting and on Tuesday I was given word from the doctors that things weren’t great. Putting a halt on the work was hard to bare. To think that things had just turned so sour for us.”

Veronica’s funeral took place at St. Michael’s Church, Darling Street, Enniskillen on Saturday, February 23 followed by interment in Cross cemetery.

The funeral was conducted by funeral undertaker John McKeegan.

Veronica is deeply regretted by all her loving family, friends, neighbours and extended family.

Remembering his Wonder V with great fondness, from her iconic laugh to her warm and caring personality, Micky said: “I’ve never met a woman with such a big heart and if the world had more Veronica’s, we would be literally living in Heaven. Everything felt right with her.”

“I have been blessed to have had Veronica in my life,” he added.