The first of the ten Hunter Valley wedding bush crash victims to be laid to rest was farewelled on Monday at a ceremony at which he was remembered as ‘a beautiful human with an infectious smile and sense of adventure’.
Among the family and friends at the funeral of Angus Andrew Craig, 28, at Worrigee on the NSW South Coast were his girlfriend Bella Liddy who was with him on the bus at the time of the crash.
Standing by Angus’s kiteboard and bicycle helmet propped up on his coffin, best friend Sean told Ms Liddy ‘he was so excited to be moving in with you. We will all never understand what you went through on that horrible night’.
Ms Liddy told the mourners how she was ‘incredibly heartbroken’ by the loss of Angus who was ‘warm and thoughtful, up for any adventure no matter how quirky and he loved to dance.
‘It breaks my heart that our time together was cut so short he hadn’t even memorised his new postcode,’ she said.
‘It didn’t take me long to fall in love with the bright, thoughtful and generous person he was.
‘I know I am a better person for having loved and having been loved by you.
the girlfriend of Angus Craig, Bella Liddy (above) tearfully recalled her ‘beautiful, kind and exuberant’ partner who had only just moved in with her five weeks before the crash
Family and friends gather for the first funeral of a Hunter Valley bus crash victim, Angus Andrew Craig, 28, who was farewelled (above) at Worrigee on the NSW South Coast on Monday morning
Angus Craig’s sister Georgia and his parents Duncan and Tobi tearfully remember their beloved ‘Angy’ at his funeral on the NSW South Coast on Mondayevd
‘It’s so hard to put into words the immeasurable impact Angus had on my life and even harder to accept the fact we’ve lost such a beautiful, kind and exuberant soul.’
Angus was one of the four men and six women who lost their lives in the Hunter Valley bus crash, the remaining passengers suffering varying degrees of injury.
They had all been guests at the wedding of Mitchell Gaffney and Maddy Edsell at Wandin Wine Estate south of Singleton, NSW on June 11,
Just hours later the Linq Buslines coach carrying 35 of them catastrophically collided with a guard rail near Greta around 11.30pm.
Mr Craig was a close friend of Mitchell Gaffney, having been house mates in Singleton with Mr Gaffney, also an engineer, when he was first out of university.
Angus’s parents Duncan and Tobi, sister Georgia, brother-in-law Greg and partner Bella were among those at The Chapel in Worrigee on Monday.
Angus Craig (above) with his girlfriend Bella Liddy who was travelling with him on the bus when it crashed near Greta on June 11, tragically killing ten people including Angus
Angus Craig was farewelled at a funeral on the NSW South Coast on Monday at which he was remembered as ‘genuine, honest, with an infectious smile and a sense of adventure’
At the time of his death, Angus had been working in the coal mines of Central Queensland and had moved out of his sister’s house to live with Ms Liddy just five weeks before the crash.
Standing between her parents, Georgia laughed and wept as she remembered her brother who would now never meet her first child. which is due in two months time.
‘How cruel is this loss, of a lovely well-mannered gorgeous boy who matured into a lovely responsible thoughtful good-looking man,’ she said.
He was a fly-in fly-out (FIFO) worker to Blackwater, for four days a week, returning on Thursdays, which Bella Liddy said ‘became my favourite day of the week’.
Angus Craig is the first of ten people who died in the Hunter Valley bus crash (above) to be laid to rest
On Wednesday, junior doctor Rebecca Mullen will be farewelled at a service in Singleton by her family and fiance Sam Howard.
Dr Mullen was among five women and two men who played for the Singleton Roosters AFL teams who perished in the crash.
A funeral for talented AFL player Kane Symons will be held in Tasmania next Sunday.
The 21-year-old apprentice electrician was the boyfriend of Kyah McBride, who he met through the Singleton Roosters, and who also died in the crash along with her mother, Rooster coach, Nadene McBride.
The driver of the bus, Brett Button, 58, is on bail charged with 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death, drive manner dangerous, and negligent driving (occasioning death) and will next appear in court in August.
