THE Dockenfield community has come together to celebrate the lives of villagers Ian and Pamela Mansell, and “honorary Dockenfielder” Marlene Wright, who died in a car crash while on holiday in the Caribbean on May 2.

Friends of Ian, 72, and Pamela, 74, both long-time Dockenfield residents, and Pamela’s sister Marlene, 69, who is from Liphook, have found little closure following the tragedy in the Cayman Islands - with the deceased still to be repatriated to the UK and funeral arrangements yet to be confirmed.

As such, Dockenfield villagers have taken it upon themselves to celebrate Ian, Pamela and Marlene’s lives with a number of modest but dignified tributes, in keeping with their role at the heart of the village.

Minute’s silences were observed at the monthly ‘men’s night’ at The Bluebell pub on May 11, where Ian and Pamela were popular customers, and at the annual parish meeting on May 16.

Tributes to the couple were also made at the annual Spring Supper at the Church of the Good Shepherd last Friday, and again on Sunday, May 21, during simultaneous gatherings in Dockenfield and the Caribbean.

More than 50 people gathered in the sunlit gardens of the Church of the Good Shepherd to share fond memories of the much-loved couple - and by chance, friends of Ian and Pamela had previously arranged to visit the Cayman Islands and were able to lay flowers and cards representing Dockenfield.

On Saturday, June 3, villagers will again come together for this year’s Dockenfield Day traditional village fete, which both Ian and Pamela were heavily involved in running.

And also at The Bluebell, on Saturday, June 10, there will be a music night in Ian and Pamela’s memory featuring one of their favourite bands ’The Charley Farley Sunday Four’.

Elsewhere, the Dockenfield Skittles Evening, organised for the past 10 years by Ian, has announced its winner’s trophy will from this year be named the ‘Mansell Cup’ in the couple’s memory.

Michael Foster, editor of the Dockenfield Newsletter, told The Herald: “Dockenfield is still in a state of shock as you might imagine, and everyone is keen to know when the funeral might be and what form it will take.

“With no one to write to and no funeral yet to attend it is difficult for their friends to find any form of closure. But we are trying to ensure that life continues in the village in the way that Ian and Pamela would have wanted it.

“They were both hugely involved in the village’s annual fete Dockenfield Day, which this year is on Saturday, June 3. The village is coming together to ensure that the fete is as much fun, and there are as many things to do and enjoy as ever; as that is the way Ian and Pamela would have wanted it.”

The Cayman authorities have now formally identified the victims of the May 2 crash and post-mortems were completed on Wednesday last week (May 17). Their next-of-kin have also been located, while arrangements to repatriate the deceased to the UK are “currently in process”.

A police investigation into the circumstances that led to the fatal crash is also ongoing.

Ian, Pamela and Marlene died after their Kia Rio hire car was hit head-on by a Honda Accord in the East End area of Grand Cayman island shortly after 7pm on Tuesday, May 2.

The 22-year-old Jamaican driver of the Honda was also killed in the crash, while two passengers in the Honda, aged 11 and 26, were seriously injured but survived.

A spokesman for the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) told The Herald: “As of May 17, all post-mortems of the deceased in the multiple-fatality collision in East End on May 2 were completed.

“Arrangements are currently in process with relatives for the repatriation of the deceased to their home countries.

“The investigation into the incident will conclude with the receipt of expert reports in coming weeks and the file will then be passed to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for ruling.

“The RCIPS extends its condolences to the relatives of the deceased in this tragic incident.”