HE WAS a military pilot before he could drive, one of the youngest-ever flight instructors in the Air Corps, a first-class honours student, a marathon man and a karate kid.
The short life and long accomplishments of Capt Derek Furniss, who was killed in an air crash last week, were remembered on Saturday afternoon with fondness and pride by all who knew him.
One of these was ex-Air Corps chaplain Fr Brendan Madden. “If we were here until tomorrow we could not encapsulate what Derek piled into 32 short years,” he told the congregation at St John the Evangelist Church in Ballinteer, Dublin.
It was a common refrain from all those who eulogised his life. His sisters, Jane and Susan, read a poem called The Dashwhich contained the lines "what mattered most of all was the dash between those years".
A table in the centre of the church was filled with reminders of a life well spent. There was a karate black belt from his time representing Ireland in the sport as a teenager; a necktie from the local scouts; the singlet from Rathfarnham Athletic Club, for whom he was running competitively the day before he died; his pilot wings; the thesis he wrote for his first-class honours degree in management and aeronautical studies, and a Leinster rugby shirt.
The medal he won for running last year’s Dublin marathon in three hours and 26 minutes was placed in the breast pocket of his Air Corps uniform.
Capt Furniss, from Ballinteer, was killed along with Cadet David Jevens, from Glynn, Co Wexford, during a low-flying visual navigation training exercise from Casement Aerodrome to Maam, Co Galway, last Monday.
The packed congregation included President Mary McAleese, Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea, chief of staff of the Irish Defence Forces Lieut Gen Dermot Earley, General Officer Commanding the Air Corps Brig Gen Ralph James and Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy. The Taoiseach was represented by his aide-de-camp Comdt Michael Treacy.
The chief mourners were his parents, Paula and Owen Furniss, and his sisters. Also present were Liz and Donal Jevens, the parents of Cadet Jevens. Capt Furniss’ partner of nine years, Sarah Byrne, said his life had been short but it was full of “adventure, knowledge, passion and love”.
He was a man who believed in himself and made others believe in themselves. “He believed in me long before I did. Derek had an inner strength and belief that I had never known in anybody before.” Her teenage daughter, Rebecca, also spoke during the service.
Comdt Jim Gavin, commander of the flying training school, described Capt Furniss as a “very high achiever at a very young age”. By the age of 23, he was one of the youngest flight instructors in the Air Corps and had trained 60 per cent of all its personnel. Capt Furniss philosophy could be expressed in two words: follow me.
A gun carriage led by a piper carried his coffin through the streets to Kilmashogue Cemetery. Capt Furniss was buried with full military hours and a fly-past by two PC-9 aircraft.
