By Anne Lucey
A fundraising campaign has been set up to finance funeral expenses of one of the Kerry based Latvian man who drowned off Cahersvieen while fishing at the weekend.
Valerijs Klimentjevs, age 38 and two friends died off Coonanna harbour when a regular fishing trip went wrong.
He had been living in Tralee with his wife Inga Permitina for five years. The couple’s two-year-old son, Daniel, was born in University Hospital Kerry in Tralee.
Now Inga’s manager and colleagues in the Zip Yard in Denny Street Tralee where Inga works as a seamstress have set up a bank account as well as a Go Fund Me campaign to help her bring her husband’s ashes back to Latvia to his elderly mother.
The notice on the page reads:
"On the weekend of 30th September three fishermen lost their lives while fishing off the Kerry coast.
"These three men were all friends out for a day's fun and chat but tragically lost their lives while on the sea.
"One of these men is survived by his wife Inga Peremitina and their young son Daniel (2).
Inga now must cope with being a widow and help bring Valerijs remains back to Latvia to his elderly mother and extended family.
Ms Peremitina has spoken to the Tralee based Kerry’s Eye newspaper and told how the last she heard from her husband was by mobile phone at 11.30 am on Sunday morning. He told her the sea was “not stable”, the water was not good and he wanted to return home.
However when she tried calling him at 2.30 pm, and several times after that, that there was no answer.
At around 9pm that evening Ms Peremitina identified the body of her husband after it was taken from the sea by Rescue 115, and transferred to the morgue in Tralee.
Although the couple have no relatives in this country, she intends to return to Tralee after the funeral in Latvia to resume her life and that of her son who was born in Kerry.
Meanwhile, the body of the youngest of the three men, Jurijus Burceus aged 30 has been repatriated.
He had married only recently. He worked with KWD recycling in Killarney and the company issued a statement outlining its sorry at the loss of a valued colleague and employee.
A prayer service was held for him a the funeral home in Killarney on Wednesday night.
The eldest of the men, 57-year-old Anatolijs Teivans, a married father of three sons who all work in this country, is being cremated on Friday in Cork and his ashes taken back to Latvia.
A book of condolence has opened in the O’Connell Memorial Church in Cahersiveen and three candles are to be lit before all masses for the remainder of the week.
The local Cahersiveen parish liturgy group, led by parish priest Fr Larry Kelly has announced a prayer service at Coonanna Pier in memory of the three men on Saturday afternoon involving parishioners, locals at Coonanna, the coastguard and emergency services as well as anyone who wishes to attend.
