Hundreds mourn Lichfield father attacked outside home
Canon Wealands Bell, Precentor of Lichfield Cathedral, delivered a homily in which he spoke of the effect Mr Eccles' death had on the local community.
He said: "The death of Michael Eccles, not quite three weeks ago, was one of those shocking and traumatising events which shook not just his family and friends, but the whole city of Lichfield.
"Indeed, the whole region can recognise in his dying a sign of a fundamental human vulnerability: a frailty in the human body, a fragility in the body of our community.
"A vulnerability which can strike in all sorts of ways, at all sorts of times, wholly unpredictable, wholly ungovernable, robbing an individual of any number of possible futures which he may have envisaged, and condemning those who love him to a lifetime of grieving and regret."
Mr Eccles had been planning to marry Yvonne, his partner of 23 years, this year.
The couple had three children together and Mr Eccles was stepfather to Yvonne's two eldest children.
The service was followed by a private cremation at Sutton Coldfield Crematorium.
:: A 15-year-old youth and a 20-year-old man, both from Lichfield, were remanded in custody last month charged with Mr Eccles' murder.
Carl Keatley and the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are due to appear at Stafford Crown Court for a plea and case management hearing on April 17.
