CROWDS lined the streets to pay their respects to a popular Wimborne ice cream seller.
Jake Lennie, known to many as Mr. Mac, died on Sunday June 13th after doing his usual round the day before.
Moved to Basingstoke from Scotland in 1963, he met his wife and set off in a trailer.
His daughter Jemma said, “He had a couple of different vans during this time, but he was always known as Mister Mac.
“My mother and father started 48 years ago. You initially wanted to deliver pet food, but then someone suggested becoming an ice cream man.
“Everyone calls him a legend. I’ve met people who have been getting ice cream from him for years. There are three or four generations he’s delivered to, which is just amazing. ”
Jake Lennie drove his ice cream truck through many Dorset villages, including Wimborne, Corfe Mullen, Verwood and Ringwood.
Ten ice cream trucks followed the hearse and limousine as the procession passed Wimborne Square on Wednesday, June 7 at 2:30 p.m. on the way to the crematorium.
Residents applauded the funeral procession that drove through downtown Wimborne, led by the Mister Mac ice cream truck driven by Jemma Lennie.
“It was absolutely amazing. The sight of all these people lining the streets took my breath away, ”she said.
“When we got to the main square and everyone was clapping and the bells were playing, I really had to concentrate on driving while I was crying. It is so touching to know that he has touched so many people’s lives.
“I would like to thank everyone who took the time to say the perfect farewell to my father. It was just amazing and makes me so proud to call him my father. ”
Along with the procession, Jake’s close friends Robert Ferrett distributed free ice cream to people lining the streets to pay tribute to Mr. Mac.
Many participants in the procession remembered Jake making various deliveries across Dorset.
John Spatchet, 69, of Wimborne said: “He used to come around the street my mother lived on in Corfe Hill on Sunday evenings. Normally I would stock up on ice cream for the rest of the week until he came over the next week.
“We met some people from the Lake District who saw the procession and they were shocked that a village would do that. I think it says something about the Wimborne community spirit.
“It was a nice tribute to pay tribute to such a nice man, and it was a nice gesture that one of his friends gave away ice cream to people.”
A Corfe Mullen resident added, “I’ve known Jake for years, he went to the property every Thursday.
“It was a very moving procession to see all the ice cream trucks coming through town, it was a beautiful place. All rivals become colleagues for today.
“It takes something like this so that they all come together. It was a beautiful day for a lovable man. ”