Amy read a poem which she had put into her father’s birthday card last year, in which she described him as “irreplaceable”.

Then her cousin, and Mr McKenna’s niece, Michelle, shared some treasured family memories with the service.

“Gill misses him every second of every day,” she said.

“This year our world came crashing down when Graham was snatched away from us, leaving a huge hole in all our lives. A light has gone out, never to be re-lit. You will be forever in our hearts.”

Songs played included Berlin’s Take My Breath Away and Jimmy Somerville’s Don’t Leave Me This Way.

The soldiers from the Mercian Regiment (Cheshire) – the old Cheshire Regiment, with whom Mr McKenna served – then carried his coffin high on their shoulders out of the church to the sounds of The Jam’s A Town Called Malice.

His closest family and friends then attended his burial at Frankby cemetery.

GARY FINLAY, 46, of Alexandra Road, Birkenhead, was last week charged with Mr McKenna’s murder and the attempted murder of Michael, who was stabbed nine times in the attack on Upton Road, Claughton. The pair were on their way to see their beloved Everton take on Hull City in the Premier League when they were knifed. Finlay is set to appear at Liverpool Crown Court later this month.

WATCH a video of the ceremony at www. liverpool daily post.co.uk/videos