Daughter's plea for Clitheroe plumber, 43, after shock death

A Clitheroe-based woman is raising funds for funeral flowers for her father Michael, a well-known plumber in the Ribble Valley area after his death earlier this month.

Summer Houghton’s father, Michael, died in May after a short-term battle with illness. “He was ill for about three months but we never really knew how bad it was,” Houghton said. After prior visits to the hospital proved fruitless, Houghton and her family were informed that Michael’s organs were failing and nothing more could be done to help him.

For Houghton and the family, processing and coming to terms with Michael’s death has been an "incredibly difficult" process. However, she retains fond memories of growing up with Michael, citing how her favourite memory involved both her and her father enjoying a “A good dance to Bruno Mars and Whitney Houston,”. Wanting to give Michael the send-off he deserves, Houghton set-up a GoFundMe page.

The fundraising efforts have proved successful thus far, with Summer raising £525 of her £600 goal, with 29 people donating to Michael’s funeral contribution. “I'm really shocked by it,” Houghton said when asked whether she was pleased with the outcome. The support underlines the impact that he made in both his profession and in terms of his personality. “Everyone knew him as the plumber in Clitheroe. (But) He was a kind person,” Houghton said when asked what trait she admired most about her father.

The funds raised on GoFundMe will go towards purchasing a wreath, flowers and decorations for the funeral. “It's going to be in the back of the car where his coffin will be and hopefully its surface as well. Just in front of the coffin because everyone knew that he was a good dad and that he cared for me and he was soft with me and things like that. So I kind of bought it to just represent how good of a dad he was,” Houghton said.