As the church bells chimed three o’clock yesterday afternoon, the nation mourned the loss of former First Lady Mary Fenech Adami who passed away six days after she was taken ill at a wedding reception.
Mrs Fenech Adami, 77, was hospitalised last Saturday after suffering a heart attack during the wedding reception of the Prime Minister’s son at Girgenti Palace.
Her condition deteriorated along the week and she died yesterday afternoon. Cherishing fond memories of Mrs Fenech Adami, her second eldest son and Nationalist MP, Beppe, said life must go on.
“We will take it in our stride. Life has to go on. Life is beautiful and we have to make the best out of it. The emptiness she left behind is big but what we received from her will definitely help us cope with this situation,” he said, adding that his father, former President Eddie Fenech Adami, was very serene, calming things down.
“Death is an integral part of life and he is strong enough to manage this situation and cope in the years to come,” he added.
“My mother had a public life but when I look back I see a mother who always put her family first irrespective of what came her way. I can never say that my mother was not there in any moment of my life.”
“Her mastery was how she could juggle her public profile with her private life, that of a mother who stood by her family in good and bad times. She shunned all the temptations that such high profile positions could bring with them,” he added.
Mrs Fenech Adami, a mother of five – John, Beppe, Michael, Maria and Luigi – is mourned by a nation.
Doris Bonnici, who lived opposite the Fenech Adami family for the past 35 years, said: “I cannot believe I will never see her again. Her usual place in church has been empty for the past days.”
“I’ve missed her terribly during the past week and now all I have left are the nice memories of a saint who never carried herself around as the wife of a former President.”
Her eyes welling up, Ms Bonnici reminisced about the days when her own children received their first Holy Communion and Confirmation with Mrs Fenech Adami’s children, fondly referred to as “is-sinjura Mer” as a close friend.
Ms Bonnici, 68, used to meet Mrs Fenech Adami on her daily errands as both of them babysat their grandchildren.
“She was a real grandma. She was a real neighbour. She was a real woman. She would not even jump the queue when people urged her to at the grocery,” she said.
Mrs Fenech Adami even visited neighbour Catherine Borg, 87, at hospital and at home when her health deteriorated.
“She treated me just like a sister. She was a woman who loved everyone and hated no one. She would encourage us to pray for those in need,” Ms Borg, who has lived in the same house on Main Street for the last 62 years, said.
Heartbroken at hearing about Mrs Fenech Adami’s loss, Ms Borg said the late former First Lady cared about everyone she met.
These sentiments were shared by television presenter Peppi Azzopardi, who worked closely with Mrs Fenech Adami during several L-Istrina events.
He described her not as “a simple woman but, rather, a woman who lived simply”.
“Mary Fenech Adami was the voice of the people,” Mr Azzopardi said, explaining how she used to talk to the man on the street she met in the town’s square and at the grocer’s.
“... in Mary Fenech Adami we... had an unelected representative, who was our voice with her husband, the leader of the country. Mary Fenech Adami was really and truly the president of the Kitchen Cabinet of Prime Minister Fenech Adami,” he added.
Her next door neighbour, Antonia Pisani, reiterated that “is-sinjura Mer” was a “saintly woman who loved everyone”.
“She wasn’t haughty. She was very friendly and I have never heard her argue with anyone. Now all that is left are the nice memories...,” Ms Pisani’s voice trailed off.
The neighbours recalled the unforgettable night of October 1979 when the modest Fenech Adami house was mobbed by Labour thugs. The neighbours helped the family out of the building and onto the roof of a house situated at the back of the Fenech Adami residence.
“I saw her approaching her house, with a loaf of bread in her hand. It is all clear in my mind. Is-sinjura Mer tried keeping them outside but they pushed her in with all their might,” Ms Bonnici recalled.
Speaking about the woman’s courage to forgive after the 1979 ransacking, close family friend and University lecturer Fr Joe Borg said: “Mrs Fenech Adami lived according to her faith. She was a woman of faith, and faith was her life. Her strength was built upon her faith.”
“I never heard her speak with hatred. One needs to be really courageous to be so ready to forgive.”
Having known the Fenech Adami family for the past 35 years, Fr Joe described Mrs Fenech Adami as “a great woman”.
“She was a strong giant hidden in the demeanour of a simple woman.”
The Speaker of the House, Michael Frendo said Mrs Fenech Adami “went through a lot in life but she always had a good word for everyone.”
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s wife, Catherine, described her as a “great woman”. “She was practical, with her feet planted on the ground, always close to the people. She was a source of constant support to her husband and always met her social obligations without abandoning her family commitments.
“She knew how to listen... She was an optimist and always forgave those who may have offended her or her family. She was also humorous. I believe Mary’s strength came from her values and her strong faith in God.”
President Emeritus Ugo Mifsud Bonnici said: “She was a very courageous woman who took everything the world threw at her in her stride. She was always close to the people, a generous woman, who supported her husband in very difficult moments. She was a woman of exceptional virtues.”
Nationalist MP Francis Zammit Dimech expressed his sadness at the loss. “I am deeply saddened by her loss. She was always alongside her husband and family in the most difficult moments this country has gone through.”
He recalled: “On Sunday, the day after she collapsed, Mary was sorely missed by the congregation at the Sacro Cuor parish in Sliema where she never failed to attend the 8.30 a.m. Mass on the feast day.”
Richard Cachia Caruana, Malta’s Permanent Representative to the EU and possibly Dr Fenech Adami’s closest aide, said: “A lovely lady who dealt with everyone in the same warm way – from the grocer and the butcher to heads of state and their spouses. She was always there for everyone and will be missed by everyone.”
The sad news of Ms Fenech Adami’s death also reached the United States, with former US Ambassador Douglas Kmiec, together with his wife Carol, writing in to express their deepest sympathy to Dr Fenech Adami and his family.
“The Fenech Adamis were ever so gracious to us during our time in Malta. In listening to Mary’s account of how political rancour once invaded her home and left her injured, one did not hear residual animosity but grateful relief that the times of violent political turmoil were past,” Prof. Kmiec wrote.
“In this, we shall always think of Mrs Fenech Adami as being of the same stature as we in America hold Eleanor Roosevelt, the late wife of Franklin. Mrs Roosevelt once said: ‘A woman is like a tea bag, you never know how strong she is until she finds herself in hot water.’
“May God welcome this wife, mother, charitable organiser and splendid example of faith-based tenacity facing the modern challenges of this century.”
President George Abela and his wife Margaret too expressed their condolences, describing Mrs Fenech Adami as a refuge to those who needed her assistance.He expressed his condolences to Dr Fenech Adami, personally and on behalf of the people in a telephone call.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi also phoned Dr Fenech Adami to express his condolences and described Mrs Fenech Adami as a mother with strong moral values who had worked quietly for those who needed her help.
During yesterday’s parliamentary sitting MPs from both sides of the House paid tribute to Mrs Fenech Adami. Labour leader Joseph Muscat and his wife Michelle said in a statement they were saddened at the news of Mrs Fenech Adami’s demise.
They said they had the opportunity to meet Mrs Fenech Adami several times over the past three years and during these occasions they confirmed her human qualities and that she was an inspiration to them.
The Nationalist Party, the Labour Party, Alternattiva Demokratika, the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin and the Malta Union of Teachers also expressed their condolences.
Mrs Fenech Adami’s funeral will be held on Monday at 10 a.m. at St Helen’s Basilica in Birkirkara.