Introduction:
Lianne was the third of us Brisley children, the first female born in our direct line for 100 years - unique, rare, special.....bloody right she was!!
It went, Neil, Ian, Lianne and Stephen by age, but "Lianne and the boys" from then onwards. She was the named one, always.
In the family home, the three children’s bedrooms were, the box room, the top room........and yes, of course, Lianne's room. Special then, and so very special now.
Eulogy by brother Ian:
Lianne being 7 years younger than myself created the Neil & Ian, and Lianne & Stephen pairings, so Stephen was the "Play together brother"; Neil the "Grown-up advice" brother, and me, the "How do I get out of this trouble" brother. I left the UK to go backpacking when Li was 15, and I returned to find a woman had appeared. A funny woman, ready to spread her wings, and so to Israel she flew. My working in Arabia meant contact with sis became difficult but there was always Christmas and that became more special every year because of this.
Eli, then Noiya, then Yaheli appeared to complete Lianne, and her reason for living became so much deeper. Our family's spread across the globe became wider, but our love for each other became deeper and the rare meetings more special. All our families grew: Julie, my wife, gave Lianne cousins in Lewis and Tyler; Cathy, Neil's wife, gave Liam and Ellen; and Audrey, Steve's wife, gave Caitlin and Emma - the connection between us all so special then, and oh so very special now.
Lianne, my little sister, thank you for all you gave to me. You are forever part of me and mine and I expect you to be the same special, my only little sister when we eventually meet again.
Eulogy by brother Neil:
Lianne stayed with me for a few months in early 1995 in Rennes, France, as a ‘warm up’ for bigger travels. She got a job assisting the Dean of my business school and came to know many of my international students and enjoy university-like times. Lianne joined our student ski trip to the Alps and decided she needed somewhere warmer… Cathy and I stayed with Lianne on Be’eri for 12 days in May 1996, and I have spent 27 years explaining to anybody who will listen, what a unique place is Be’eri, where Lianne chose to make her life among so many friends and new family.
Lianne and Eli visited us in France for our wedding, and later in Canada for holidays. Cathy particularly remembers Lianne treating our young kids in the same way we did. As people. No baby voices, no patronization, just talking to small humans. We enjoyed several UK family Christmases together and the Summer 2014 entire family celebration in France with all eight Brisley cousins, including Ian and Julie’s boys Lewis and Tyler, and our own son Liam. Too much time passed before my 2016 Be’eri visit, and our planned family 2021 Bat Mitzvah trip went online. But in recent years, WhatsApp meant I could call Lianne much more often. Usually, she would be walking Moka around the Kibbutz and we would laugh most of the time, as Lianne ‘tells it like it is’ and does not hold back on her sarcasm and humour.
This summer’s Bat Mitzvah for Yahel was so memorable. Lianne always generous with everybody. Fabulous to see Noiya and Yahel, Steve and Audrey’s Caitlin and Emma, together with our own Ellen, as the five girl cousins danced together following onscreen Tik Tok moves, sang together, had Be’eri swimming pool games and battles together with Nanny and Grandad and family splashing in the water. Seeing Tash and other faithful friends and family on Be’eri at that time helps us know how much Lianne, Eli, Noiya, and Yahel have been loved.
Eulogy by brother Steve:
Lianne was my big sister. Big in every way - her love, her personality, her attitude and her mouth!! We shared toys, games and a bedroom with bunk beds when we were small - we would often talk after our parents had turned our light out and then pretend to be asleep when they came in to tell us to be quiet! When sharing a room on a family holiday in Scotland, we would argue about who got the bed next to the window, as we both knew it was the best vantage point to see the rabbits that would gather in the garden there early each morning. To this day, whenever I see rabbits in the wild, I remember those mornings, just me and Lianne, crouched on the bed in our pyjamas, straining to get the best view.
Throughout our teenage years, we would fight & bicker and support & help each other in equal measure, like any siblings do, but we always knew that we could rely on each other. Even when I was being that REALLY annoying little brother and Lianne was swatting me away like a mosquito, we both knew that ANYONE who tried to come between us had better be ready to face an unbreakable team.
After Lianne left home for Be'eri, although the distance between us increased in kilometres, it somehow brought us closer together. We would message each other, speak often, sharing the day to day details of our lives just as easily as if we were sat across the table from each other drinking the tea we both loved! Through the visits that Lianne, Eli, Noiya and Yahel made to Bristol and, later, South Wales for Christmas, Easter and summer holidays, our bond grew ever stronger as our young families shared festive and family occasions. So many happy memories were created and they have comforted me with love and light in recent dark days.
Although I can't believe Lianne's gone, I also can't believe that I was lucky enough to have had her as my sister but also, as my friend. I'll see you again sis. But not yet. Not yet.
Eulogy by father Pete:
I saw Lianne born on the double bed in our bedroom at 64 Mangotsfield Road in the early hours of 20th February 1975. She was a good child and wonderful company for her brother, Stephen, born 19 months later.
Lianne was a pretty good student at school, although usually only in the subjects she wanted to be, which didn't include Maths! She was a gifted musician, beginning with the recorder when very young, before finding her way to her favourite instrument, the clarinet, in her teens. And, as all who have seen her perform at many kibbutz events over the years will know, she also loved to sing.
As a teenager she was something of a rebel, but always very popular and she made friends easily, with friendships starting at nursery and school, with Kirsty and Sophie, enduring throughout her adult life.
She wanted to travel the world with a friend, who quickly dropped out and so, not wanting to travel alone, she applied to be a kibbutz volunteer for three months. After 3 months at Be’eri, Lianne called home to say that "She had met a man and was staying on…and on…and on…", so I sent Gill on a mission to check out this man, Eli. Upon her return Gill said she had some good news and some bad news about him and said "He IS lovely BUT.....he's a Manchester United fan!". But seeing how happy Eli made my little girl, I was prepared to forgive him his poor taste in football team!
Engagement and marriage soon followed, with a wonderful wedding and party in Bristol, followed by a trip to Be’eri for an Israeli "wedding party", with a feast, much drinking and dancing. As is Israeli tradition (or so we were told!!), Gill and I ended up in the pool, fully clothed followed by many others.
It was obvious, from our many trips there over the course of 28 years, that Lianne was truly loved by so many on the kibbutz. It was a joy to see this in person as recently as July, when we watched Lianne's great joy in celebrating Yahel's Bat Mitzvah and her pride in Noiya's role in arranging it.
Rest in peace, Lianne. I miss you so much now and forever.
Eulogy by mother Gill:
Our Lianne was the light of our family’s life. She had a wonderful caring nature. She would help anyone in trouble, be it physical, emotional or financial, she would be there for them. She was funny, with a dry sense of humour - sometimes irreverent, but never malicious.
She fully embraced the life on Be’eri and made many friends over the years. She was a wonderful mother to Noiya and Yahel and a great support for Eli. Her love for her parents and the rest of the family here was always apparent. She never failed to keep in contact with us and we enjoyed hearing of her life in Israel and the adventures she shared with Eli, Noiya and Yahel.
We will miss our girl to the end of our days and keep her in our hearts forever, tucked away with the fondest memories of her 48 years.
Goodnight, sleep tight sweetheart.
Eulogy by Ian Brisley:
Three years.
Three years today, we speak your name.
Three years today, our love the same.
Three years today, though hearts still bleed,
Your roots hold fast in Be'eri's seed.
Three years have passed, though time stands still.
Our broken hearts defy their will.
The world recalls that dreadful date.
Our world was changed by endless hate.
7th October 2023
That date the world now knows too well.
For us, the day our heaven fell.
A day that stole what none can see
Our future, our hope, our family.
Lianne
Just nineteen years when Be'eri called.
Among its fields, your heart enthralled.
An English girl, yet wholly theirs,
Through shared tomorrows, hopes and prayers.
You built a family of your own,
Where kindness flourished, love had grown.
You sang with joy, your laughter free,
Your clarinet in harmony.
Music drifted through your days.
Friendship filled so many ways.
You built your life so rich and true.
You became a part of Be'eri too.
So fearless, full of youthful flame,
No tomorrows ever looked the same.
Three years today, we speak your name.
Then hatred came in bandana green,
To murder innocents yet unseen.
They burned your home.
They stole your breath.
They wrapped your paradise in smoke and death.
They came with fire.
They came with hate.
They came and sealed my sister's fate.
They came with murder in their eyes,
Beneath October's blood-red skies.
Lianne reached out through Facebook's page:
"Where's the army?" Fear and rage.
Noiya turned to Instagram:
"Help us, please... PLEASE... ANYONE!"
These words escaped beyond the flames.
Their desperate calls were all in vain.
The world would hear their final plea.
Their family heard it far too late.
Too late for hope.
Too late for prayer.
Too late for those that should have been there.
I searched for answers.
I begged for truth.
For something worthy of your youth.
But silence met me every day.
Impossible questions would not fade away.
And so I watched what no brother ever should, To learn the truth where evil stood.
I saw my family where they lay,
Exactly as they fell that day.
Those haunting scenes now live in me,
Etched forever, so painfully.
The truth we sought came at that cost,
Revealing the three that we had lost.
The home you built now swept away.
Ancient olive groves once marked the way.
Yet where they tore your world apart,
An olive tree now guards your heart.
Its roots grow deep in Be'eri's earth,
A living sign of your love and worth.
Though homes may fall, and songs grow still, Your memory climbs each distant hill.
They stole your clarinet that day,
Believing your song would fade away.
But songs are carried, voice to voice,
Where love remembers every choice.
Be'eri wept through every street,
Where empty homes and memories meet.
Over a hundred lives were swept away.
Each empty chair. Each silent room.
Still bears the weight of grief and gloom.
Yet faithful friends still held the line,
Through shattered homes on borrowed time.
The heart of Be'eri never died,
For love refused to step aside.
And slowly hope returns once more,
Through open hearts and every door.
My parents carry a mother's pain,
A father's grief that will remain.
We carry memories oceans wide,
With all the tears we never cried.
Now, when the world recalls that day,
and speaks of terror, of smoke, of flame,
We speak of music, of love, of friends.
We proudly speak each precious name.
Three years today, we speak your name.
Lianne Brisley Sharabi
My beloved sister.
Noiya Sharabi
My beloved niece.
Yahel Sharabi
My beloved niece.
Loved beyond measure,
Missed beyond words,
Remembered forever,
You three, our treasure.
