Farewells after motorway deaths

JOHN SELKIRK/Stuff

IN MEMORY: A portrait of Dulce Donaldson is carried out of St Andrews Catholic church in Tuakau at the end of the double funeral for Dulce and her husband Ewan. The couple died after they drove the wrong way on Auckland's North West motorway at Te Atatu.

JOHN SELKIRK/Stuff

LAST GOODBYE: The casket of Ewan Donaldson showing his war medals and portrait outside St Andrews Catholic church in Tuakau after the double funeral for Ewan and wife Dulce.

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An elderly Auckland couple killed after driving the wrong way down a motorway and ploughing into six cars were today farewelled at a funeral.

More than 100 friends and relatives of the couple gathered this morning at the St Andrew's Catholic Church in Tuakau, south of Auckland, to pay their respects after last Saturday night's horror smash.

Ewen Charles Donaldson, 86, was driving his wife of more than 15 years, Dulce Maria Donaldson, aged in her 60s, to a line-dancing event in West Auckland when he entered the Te Atatu offramp of the Northwestern Motorway and drove for about 1km before crashing into six cars.

Mrs Donaldson, who was Filipino, was flung through the windscreen and died instantly. Mr Donaldson died the next day in hospital. Several other motorists were taken to hospital but none with life-threatening injuries.

Mourners heard this morning that the pair shared a love of dance and music.  Mr Donaldson was a particularly good ballroom dancer and his wife would "have a go" at everything.

"She was the life of the party. Aunty Dulce loved life," her niece and adoptive daughter told the congregation.

Stuff understands that Mr Donaldson had suffered from dementia and was not fit to drive. Police confirmed his licence had expired in 2007.

His condition was alluded to by a friend of the couples' who said Mr Donaldson had recently become too frail to keep up with his vivacious wife on the dance floor.

Mr Donaldson was buried this afternoon following a farewell by his fellow RSA members. He had served as a pilot in the airforce and, among other ventures, had cultivated carnations with his first wife.

The congregation was told how Mr Donaldson still loved gardening and the outdoors. He also had a soft spot for dogs, and once searched day and night for his black labrador hunting dog who had gone missing in the bush.

Mrs Donaldson, described as always smiling and beautifully made-up, had worked as a teacher. Her family from the Philippines and adoptive daughter from Holland attended the funeral.

She was cremated during a private ceremony. Mourners were told she was not able to drive.

- © Fairfax NZ News