Young Treyden leads procession to remember his nan

Little Treyden Stewart stunned passers-by as he proudly became a funeral director for the day and led the procession following the death of his grandmother, who he fondly knew as Nanny Penny.

Smartly dressed in a suit and tie, with a top hat and cane, the five-year-old walked through Bilston alongside Ellsmore Funeral Directors manager Edward Farnan.

Treyden’s mother Katie Hodson, age 24, said the youngster and his grandmother, Penny Westwood, were ‘very close’ and that Treyden wanted to ‘lead her to the angels’.

“She would fetch him from school most days and she would always take him to the shop and get him a Kinder Egg and a comic, which he loved,” she said.

“I was a bit unsure over whether he should go to the funeral but he kept saying it was ‘nanny’s day’ so I tried to explain to him what had happened.

“And he said he wanted to lead nanny to get her wings, so she can be an angel.”

Katie, who works at Wolverhampton Homes and lives in the Bradley area of the city, said there were plenty of tears on the day as Treyden led the procession.

“He did an absolutely fabulous job. He was just so amazing,” she added. “Especially being only five years old. We were all over the place that day, it was just one of those days – but he was perfect.”

Penny, who lived in Tipton, died aged 52, after suffering from a number of health problems.

Edward Farnan, branch manager at Ellsmore Funeral Directors on Bilston High Street, said locals ‘looked on in awe’ at the boy walking alongside him that day.

“Trey was a natural and very dignified,” he said. “Both his family and all of us at Ellsmore Funeral Directors felt very proud of him.

"With 20 years experience as a funeral director I have to admit I was choked up from start to finish.”