BY MARK MCKELVEY
The funeral of 21-year-old Lindley Houston will be held today (Thursday) at his Plumbridge home at 2pm before going directly to the graveside at Aughalane Cemetery.
The popular young farmer has been described as a man "with a heart of gold" as the shocked community try to come to terms with this devastating loss.
Lindley died in hospital on Monday as a result of injuries sustained following an accident involving a pick-up truck in the Plumbridge area in the early hours of Sunday morning.
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Police officers investigating the crash said Lindley was in a vehicle which crashed on the Culvacullion Road. There were no other vehicles involved.
Lindley was the eldest of four, and is said to have had a deep love for farming, his family and local community, and was a dedicated participant of the Plumbridge Brien Boru Pipe Band, of which half is made up of his family members.
After completing his National Diploma in Agriculture at CAFRE's Greenmount Campus in June 2006, Lindley came home to the 179 hectare family dairy and sheep farm business.
Lindley had recently been successful in his application to The New Entrants Scheme which pays young farmers under 40 years of age up to £17,000 of interest over a five-year period on loans invested for an agricultural purpose.
During the Minister for Agriculture's visit to Lindley's farm in December she said, "Lindley's entrepreneurial spirit is an example to other potential young farmers."
Paying tribute to the life of Lindley, fellow member of Plumbridge Pipe Band and neighbour, Derek Reaney conveyed the devastation felt throughout the Plumbridge area as he paid his sympathies to the wider Houston family.
He said, "It is total shock to our very small close knit Protestant community, but also the wider Plumbridge community in which Lindley was very popular. This is such a terrible tragedy for his family.
"The Houston family are at the very heart of our band and our band members are shocked at the loss of Lindley in a tragic accident.
"He was a very faithful member and would always attend practices.
"We extend to his parents Adrian and Linda, siblings Aaron, Bryany, Calvin and Uncle Clarance, to Lindley's grandparents and the wider family circle our heartfelt sympathies.
"It is an absolute tragedy. He was a very good, hard working young fella.
"He comes from a very honest, decent, respectable family. Farming would have been his life. He was very dedicated as whenever I looked out he was always hard at work."
Meanwhile, West Tyrone DUP Assembly Member Tom Buchanan expressing his sympathy to the families so tragically bereaved over the weekend in separate incidents, including Lindley's.
He said, "The sudden and untimely deaths of Michael Donnelly from Drumquin, Nigel Davis from Dromore and 21-year-old Lindsay Houston from Plumbridge is a stark reminder to us all that life can be so swiftly taken from us.
"These deaths highlight not only the danger and pressure surrounding the farming community but also the danger imposed by our roads.
"Over the past 12 months we have witnessed too many accidents and tragedies both on our roads and within the farming industry," added the MLA.
The past weekends tragedies in West Tyrone have left these families and the wider communities in deep shock and sorrow.
"While I know the wider communities will gather round to lend their support the great loss experienced by these families can never be replaced and I offer them my deepest heartfelt sympathies at this very difficult time."
