By GEMMA BROWN gemma.brown@hexham-courant.co.uk

Last updated at 13:43, Friday, 24 July 2009

HUNDREDS of mourners packed into Hexham Abbey on Wednesday for the funeral of the father and daughter killed in a tragic boating accident at Kielder.

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Geoff Wilkinson (52) died on July 12 trying to save his 17-year-old daughter, Victoria, from drowning, after their dinghy capsized during a race organised by Kielder Water Sailing Club at Tower Knowe near Falstone.

Victoria, a Year 12 student at Ponteland High School, is understood to have become trapped in the rigging of the 16-foot Laser Stratos dinghy and was pulled underwater as the boat overturned in a strong gust of wind.

Mr Wilkinson, a Cumbria County Council solicitor, was thrown from the boat and is thought to have suffered a heart attack after diving beneath the surface to try to free his daughter.

Despite his heroic efforts, Victoria died at Newcastle General Hospital two days later.

Since the double tragedy, which rocked the tiny community of Kirkwhelpington where the Wilkinson family live, candles have been lit and a special service held in the village’s St Bartholomew’s Church.

Books of condolence in memory of the much-loved father and daughter have also been organised in the hope that messages from school friends, colleagues and neighbours will bring some comfort to Victoria’s mother, Catherine, a GP at Scots Gap, and her two brothers, medical student Jack and Belsay First School pupil Ben.

On Wednesday family and friends left standing room only in the Abbey as the funeral service, introduced by Canon Graham Usher, Rector of Hexham, and led by the Rev. Dagmar Winter, priest-in-charge at Kirkwhelpington, got under way.

Ponteland High School closed for the day as more than 30 staff and dozens of students attended the funeral, along with scores of Mr Wilkinson’s colleagues from the legal services department, where he had recently been promoted to group solicitor for children’s services.

The congregation heard how Mr Wilkinson, who was born in Gosforth, met wife Catherine in Cornwall, where Jack and Victoria were born, before the family settled in Northumberland when Victoria was just eight months old.

Jack paid a personal family tribute to his father and sister and spoke of the close relationship they shared.

He said: “They shared so many interests that I have no doubt they are still keeping each other company.”

The strength of their relationship also shone through in a review of a rock concert Victoria attended with her father, which was chosen as the winning entry in the Courant’s Young Reviewers competition last year.

In it she wrote: “Does your Dad rock? I didn’t realise mine did until I went with him (no, I’m not ashamed to say it) to the Deep Purple gig at the Metro Radio Arena.”

Head teacher of Ponteland High School, Stephen Prandle, made reference to Victoria’s academic flair and love of literature before describing her as a “remarkable young person”.

He said: “We all know teachers can’t have favourites, but it would be unreasonable not to think that, now and again, talented and bright young people come along and literally light up our lives.”

He added that one of his staff had said of Victoria: “Every time she came into my room she lit the place up. If she wasn’t there it was admittedly quieter, but a whole lot duller; the smile was never far away -she was a star.”

Chief legal officer at Cumbria County Council, Angela Hardwood, said in a tribute to Mr Wilkinson: “There are no words that can take away the loss for Catherine and the children, but they can know that their husband and father was not only a hero to them, but to the children he protected and helped during his career with the council.”

The Rev. Dagmar Winter remarked on the huge talents, gifts, successes and achievements the father and daughter had in their lives.

She said in her address: “As Geoff and Victoria were part of our lives, we are keenly aware today of the slenderness of the thread which separates life from death.”

The family attended a private interment at Kirkwhelpington churchyard before joining the other mourners at Kirkwhelpington Memorial Hall.

In the hope that enough money can be raised to install a permanent memorial to Victoria at Ponteland High School, students are holding a non-uniform day in her memory today.

First published at 09:45, Friday, 24 July 2009
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk