The mum of Tom Parker paid a heartbreaking tribute to her late son at his funeral today (Wednesday, April 20).
The Wanted star Tom sadly died last month following a battle with cancer. He was 33 years old.
Tom Parker funeral
Tom‘s funeral was held today in Petts Wood in southeast London.
Fans of The Wanted star lined the streets as Tom went on his final journey.
Tom’s wife, Kelsey, followed the hearse carrying her late husband’s coffin. She was pictured being supported by family during the difficult journey.
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During the service itself, numerous tributes were paid to the late star – including one from his mother. Tom’s brother, Lewis, reportedly read out their mum’s poignant farewell.
“My mum kindly sent over something that captures him better than I ever could. It is actually the foreword to Tom’s book that’s yet to be released called Hope,” he explained, before reading the eulogy.
Lewis then continued to read his mum’s tribute to Tom, in which she referred to the late star as the “epitome of optimism”.
In the tribute, Tom’s mum recalled his birth and what he was like as a child.
Noreen said that Tom never wanted to miss out on anything. She wrote about how he learned to walk at 10 months and started to sing as soon as he could speak.
Noreen Parker’s tribute
His mum then went on to speak about how as he grew, his “natural positivity” did too.
“He treated every person with respect and equality and remained grounded through his rapid rise of suddenly being hurled into the world of pop and celebrity status,” she reportedly said.
She then went on to say that even when The Wanted disbanded, Tom remained positive, and went down different avenues.
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“Our children learn so much from us – but we, in turn, learn so much from our children – navigating the world of technology as an example for one, but perhaps to adopt their courage and confidence to create new possibilities without the fear of failure being an overriding feature,” she said.
Noreen then went on to say that they have “nothing but love and pride” for his achievements, as well as his “positive attitude”.
She said: “We always see him riding on the crest of a wave- just different waves and we’ll always be faithfully at his side. An amazing son and brother who we love dearly.”
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