Jim Armitage of Monaghan Bros GKFH53
THE death took place, suddenly, on Thursday of last week, in the South West Acute Hospital, Enniskillen of prominent Lisnaskea businessman, Jim (Jimmy) Armitage. He was 66.
Mr Armitage, a father of five, lived at Drumhaw in the town with his wife, Joanie, directly opposite his place of work, Monaghan Bros, a Ford and Hyundai dealership which he owned and where three of his sons are employed.
He was 45 years in the motor trade on the same site, starting off in sales with the late Joe Monaghan, becoming sales manager and then general manager prior to purchasing the enterprise from the Monaghan family.
Under his stewardship, Jim upgraded the premises, erecting the present showroom and the workshop and acquiring additional ground for displaying used cars.
The firm employed 40-plus staff, all of whom helped form an impressive guard of honour before and after the hugely-attended funeral Mass in Holy Cross Church on Sunday morning.
Sharing in the guard of honour were Mr Armitage’s former colleagues in the Clogher Diocesan Lourdes Pilgrimage Committee along with pupils, and staff, from St Ronan’s PS and St Comhghall’s Secondary School (of which Jim’s brother, Brian is vice-principal) and two local teams that the family were involved with, Lisnaskea Emmets and Lisnaskea Rovers FC.
Prior to Sunday’s NFL Division 2 match at Brewster Park between Fermanagh and Clare, a minute’s silence was observed in Mr Armitage’s memory.
In addition to his wife, Joanie, Mrs Armitage is immediately survived by his children, John, Tommy, Sabrina, Marty and Dwayne, and by his brother, Brian and grandchildren.
In his homily at the Mass, Canon Joseph Mullin, PP, who worked alongside Jim in Lourdes as Clogher Diocesan Director, described him as a man ‘who gave all he could to his family, his business and his Lord’.
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