The “devastated” family of Gerry Marsden said an emotional farewell to the entertainer as they held his funeral close to his beloved River Mersey in Liverpool.
Marsden, whose band Gerry and the Pacemakers were behind hits including You’ll Never Walk Alone, Ferry Cross The Mersey, I’ll Be There, How Do You Do It? and I Like It, died in hospital on January 3, aged 78.
Sir Kenny Dalglish, who was Liverpool’s manager at the time of the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989 when 96 football fans died, was among a group of 30 family and close friends permitted at the private church ceremony due to Covid-19 restrictions.
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Merseybeat singer Gerry Marsden’s “devastated” daughter said she “very, very proud to call him dad”.
Chuckling a little as she tried not to sob, his daughter Yvette Marbeck said: “My sister Vicky and myself have always been very, very proud of dad.
“He has always been a good man. He had his feet on the ground. He made us laugh every single day. He was our hero, wonderful.”
Gerry Marsden at the Adelphi Theatre in 1968 (PA)
Marsden, the lead singer of Gerry and the Pacemakers – whose songs included the Liverpool anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone, died in the early hours of Sunday at the age of 78.