Flags were flown at half mast all over the island yesterday as the news that former First Lady Mary Fenech-Adami has passed-away continued to sink-in.
Mrs Fenech Adami passed-away, aged 77, on Friday at around 3pm after succumbing to a heart attack she suffered six days earlier during a wedding reception for the Prime Minister’s son at Girgenti Palace and was given CPR by the PM’s brother MP Michael Gonzi. She had also been receiving treatment for cancer after she was diagnosed with the illness last year.
She leaves to mourn her loss her husband former Prime Minister and President Emeritus Edward Fenech-Adami, their five children - John, Maria, Beppe, Michael and Luigi - and ten grandchildren.
A wave of sympathy for Mrs Fenech-Adami stretched out from all corners of Malta and abroad as soon as it was announced that she had been hospitalised.
The Prime Minister, who expressed his condolences to the family, described Mrs Fenech-Adami as a mother of strong values, who worked silently and willingly for others.
The Nationalist Party also referred to Mrs Fenech Adami’s strong and determined character, commenting that she had successfully raised a family of five children.
The Moviment Żghażagћ Partit Nazzjonalista said it was grateful for Mary Fenech Adami’s support in her husband’s achievement of Malta joining the EU. She was always close to her husband in major decisions he took regarding Malta. She understood the needs of future generations well, MZPN said.
Throughout his career she remained a source of strength for her husband, even when the family went through a particularly difficult time after he was elected leader of the Nationalist Party in 1977 and their Birkirkara home was ransacked and looted by a mob.
Labour Leader Joseph Muscat said he and his wife Michelle were saddened by Mrs Fenech-Adami’s passing, commenting: “We had various opportunities to meet her and appreciate her humane qualities over the past three years. She was an inspiration to many.” They went on to express their and the PL’s condolences to the Fenech-Adami family.
The GRTU also saluted Mrs Fenech-Adami’s memory. She reached out to people’s hearts with her simplicity and kind heartedness through some difficult moments in the recent history of Malta, the chamber said.
The GWU joined the wave of public solidarity in expressing its condolences to Mrs Fenech-Adami’s family. She was exemplary in her behaviour as the wife of a statesman and as a mother in passing on family values to her children.
Alternattiva Demokratika also extended their condolences to the Fenech-Adami family yesterday. “Mary Fenech-Adami was known for her generosity and love of her family and community. Our thoughts are with the Fenech-Adami family. May Mary Fenech-Adami rest in peace,” AD chairperson Michael Briguglio said.
Mrs Fenech-Adami, has been described by many as a humble, exemplary woman. But the word humble does not do justice to the woman – she was regarded as her husband’s pillar of strength throughout his lengthy political career.
She tended to keep a low profile, even during the time her husband had served as President of the Republic between 2004 and 2009.
Funeral arrangements
Mrs Fenech Adami’s funeral mass will be held tomorrow at St Helen’s Basilica in Birkirkara at 10am after a funeral procession that will start at Mater Dei Hospital. The procession will pass through Valley Road Msida and will move towards Birkirkara. The march will stop in front of the town’s PN club where the highest PN officials will give their last salute.
At 9.15am, the procession, accompanied by the two Birkirkara band clubs, will proceed towards Main Street and towards the church for a presente cadavere mass.