Such was the engineering skills of the late Seamus Weldon he could have worked for the design department of the legendary John Deere company in America, his funeral Mass was told this week.

The popular businessman passed away last week.

Best known as the main John Deere lawn keeping equipment agent for Munster, Seamus was also ingrained in the sporting and community life of his adopted Kerry.

A native of County Meath, Seamus met his wife Eileen in the Galtymore, the legendary Irish dance hall in Cricklewood, London.

They moved to Killarney, where Seamus took a job at the Liebherr Container Crane Factory in Fossa before setting up his eponymous lawn mower dealership in 1969, first in Killarney town centre before moving to a permanent base in Barleymount.

“Seamus often made his own design modifications to John Deere machines, working on feedback from his customers. These were fed back to the parent companies who often acted out on them I used to wonder, at times, if we were going to end up moving to America with him working in the John Deere design department,” his son James told his requiem Mass at the Prince of Peace Church in Fossa.

Seamus passed away the previous Saturday after a battle with Motor Neuron Disease.

“MND is a dreadful disease to deal with but you would have been forgiven for thinking that Seamus didn't have it at all as he was so strong and courageous right up until the end,” added James.  “We would like to take the opportunity to thank the medical teams and Palliative Care [staff] for their compassion and professionalism as they showed during his time.”

Mr Weldon was a huge GAA fan and managed his home club, Fossa GAA, to successive Division Two and One East Kerry championships. He was also a great supporter of St Paul’s Basketball Club in the town.

He is survived by his wife, Eileen, daughter Kathleen and sons Michael, James and Padraig, son-in-law James Culloty, daughters-in-law Hilda, Sharon and Gillian, and grandchildren Ewan, Eve, Shea, Ava, Rian, Ruairí, Zachery and Esme.