[00:00.00] [MARY] Hello. Is it
[00:02.22] [MARY] working? It's working? Oh gosh. Can I
[00:07.48] [MARY] do it when I'm looking down? Will you hear that? Okay. Oh.
[00:13.88] [MARY] Hello. Okay.
[00:17.36] [MARY] Hello Michael. Hello David. Hello Janet. Jasper. Yes. He's perfect. Perfect. Isn't he lovely? He's lovely.
[00:32.50] [MARY] Okay, so
[00:33.68] [MARY] I've got my phone here.
[00:50.48] [CELEBRANT_GINA_BRAKEY] Testing,
[00:52.34] [CELEBRANT_GINA_BRAKEY] one, two. Testing, testing. Thank you.
[10:35.88] [BARRY] Hi, how are you going? That's good. And
[10:40.62] [SINGER] when no one was left inside on that starry sky You took all the wine All the wine
[11:11.28] [CHRIS] Do
[11:11.72] [CHRIS] you mind if we put the speaker stand behind you?
[11:15.30] [CHRIS] Thank you. I can take a lead. Oh, yeah. Thank you. Thank you.
[14:18.00] [ROBIN] Thank you.
[14:26.04] [MARY] I was wondering if they kept you in the car.
[14:32.94] [ROBIN] So, after two or three things.
[14:55.34] [CELEBRANT_GINA_BRAKEY] Ladies and gentlemen, as you're
[14:56.64] [CELEBRANT_GINA_BRAKEY] arriving, if I could ask you to sign in and just take a seat. We will be starting shortly. There are a few people still arriving, so we will be beginning the service in a few minutes.
[15:26.30] [MARY] I'm just trying to work on how many families have got to come.
[15:29.84] [MARY] Have you done a calculation? Are all our family here? If they are,
[15:34.32] [MARY] what's
[15:35.98] [MARY] the family number? This
[15:38.10] [MARY] is Gina. Thank you.
[16:40.26] [CHRIS] I think the level is pretty good still. It looks like it's in the main.
[16:45.98] [MARY] Yes, yes it is.
[16:50.74] [MARY] She just has to go, she has eight life
[16:52.78] [MARY] streams, so just go to the end of the round. And if she doesn't do that now, it's all with the staff.
[16:52.78] [REBECCA] It's a crap way to get people together.
[17:12.94] [ROBIN] Well Anna and Jasper have been swimming down at Cape Connolly in memory of Peter.
[17:18.74] [REBECCA] Oh that's beautiful.
[17:18.74] [ROBIN] They
[17:24.10] [ROBIN] went down there, so we went down to the kangaroos and all the rest early on.
[17:30.18] [REBECCA] We're staying at Marley tonight.
[17:31.90] [ROBIN] Alright, so we're just a few doors down from the pub.
[17:37.20] [ROBIN] So we... Yeah,
[17:39.00] [ROBIN] okay, so here you go straight up to the pub and down about four houses and we're there.
[17:43.22] [REBECCA] But you can dip in.
[17:43.22] [ROBIN] It's stumbling, isn't it? 
[17:43.22] [ORGANISER] Who do you want to dip in? My pub? Where do you want to dip in? Um, just as long as we've got a good pool.
[17:43.22] [BRIAN] Yeah, yeah.
[17:43.22] [BARRY] Any
[18:01.98] [BARRY] dance in the pipeline? Water
[18:04.78] [BARRY] projects and dance things. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's what's going on. It just feels good. Oh, yeah.
[18:57.04] [LAURIE] I ran away in 1976. I
[19:03.46] [LAURIE] had lots of adventures in Queensland.
[19:03.46] [SANDRA] Are you sitting here?
[19:03.46] [LAURIE] Robin.
[19:09.94] [SANDRA] Is
[19:10.72] [SANDRA] anyone
[19:12.14] [SANDRA] sitting
[19:14.60] [SANDRA] here?
[19:15.98] [LAURIE] Robin has taken over.
[19:26.04] [SANDRA] I haven't seen you in a long time. You look
[19:30.62] [SANDRA] great.
[19:44.08] [SANDRA] you? You're great. You said you had a tan?
[19:50.46] [SANDRA] How was that?
[19:52.70] [SANDRA] Oh. Great hair. I just dyed it. That's so cool. Okay. Yeah. Hi Judy. Oh, yeah. Okay, I'm glad she's... that's not a brand name. That's just me. Um... Yeah, that's right.
[20:14.68] [BARRY] Hi
[20:15.18] [BARRY] Laurie.
[20:16.42] [BARRY] Getting you from outside. Great to see you. Get organised. I'm glad you didn't go swimming this morning.
[20:51.08] [ORGANISER] I'm sorry. So
[20:54.84] [ORGANISER] you're coming up there to stand.
[20:56.58] [ORGANISER] I'm
[20:56.58] [ORGANISER] standing up there holding your hand. Just go.
[21:11.02] [ROBIN] So
[21:11.54] [ROBIN] is it? Is she right?
[22:48.32] [MARY] They've got about 25 minutes left.
[22:48.32] [BARRY] I'm going
[22:52.04] [BARRY] to
[22:52.04] [BARRY] put my
[22:53.82] [BARRY] violin out ready in case we have to jump up into the tub.
[23:00.26] [MARY] Got a dam in sight?
[23:02.48] [MARY] Sorry? Got a dam in sight?
[23:02.48] [BARRY] Yeah.
[23:02.48] [MARY] The candle lighting, just to keep it clear, is just going to be children,
[23:09.32] [MARY] me and the grandchildren.
[23:09.32] [BARRIE] So what's the
[23:11.40] [BARRIE] plan?
[23:11.40] [MARY] At the start of the furnace we'll be going up and we just need to keep it all so.
[23:20.96] [MARY] She told me how many candles she's got and it won't do everybody anyway.
[23:20.96] [ROBIN] So what's the plan?
[23:20.96] [MARY] It's just the start of the furnace. So it's quite easy. We're not going to introduce it or anything. I've cut down as much NCEing as
[23:36.68] [MARY] possible.
[23:36.68] [ROBIN] I don't know. How long have you been here before? About ten. No, it's beautiful.
[23:43.60] [MARY] I've chopped it. I started when the kids arrived last night. I just went, all of that's no good. And I've just picked a few stories. There are a lot I wanted to tell and I've realised a few that I haven't put in. But I've only had one chance to read the truth aloud. And that's James.
[24:14.48] [ROBIN] I'll see you before candles.
[28:38.74] [CELEBRANT_GINA_BRAKEY] Thank you. As you can see and as you will all know, music is going to play a very big part in today's farewell for Peter. In our opening piece of music, the Valdi Concerto in D Major holds a very special place in Peter's family's memories, as does Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, which will accompany the photo presentation a little bit later on. From Peter's early days of learning and playing these pieces of music, to the quiet evenings when the children would listen from upstairs as the music filled their home. They are both very fitting pieces to include in today's service. Before we begin, could I ask if you haven't already done so to switch off your phones or pop them onto silent? That would be much appreciated. Lots of people reaching to their bags, and I'm glad I mentioned that. Mary included it at the front here. Too busy.
[29:54.14] [MARY] Too busy.
[29:56.06] [CELEBRANT_GINA_BRAKEY] Well, good afternoon, everyone, and thank you all for being here, and thank you for those who have travelled from near and far to be here in Orbos today as we gather in loving memory of Peter and a warm welcome to those who join us by the live stream. A man of many talents and involved in many groups it's obvious that Peter was loved and deeply deeply respected by family and friends, by students and teaching colleagues and the many groups with whom he shared his time and his talents. Seeing so many of you here is a wonderful reflection of the many lives that he touched. We gather together today to honour the life and memory of Peter William May, a loved husband, father and father-in-law, a very proud pa, a respected brother, uncle, cousin and friend. At just 73 years of age there's no question that Peter's passing came too soon. However there is some comfort in knowing that his struggles have ended and he is now at peace. The past few years were challenging for Peter and for his family and I know that they are deeply grateful for the friendships and the support shown to him by this wonderful Orbox community, a true reflection of the impact he made. Throughout his life Peter was certainly surrounded by a lot of people who loved and cared. He was the loved husband of Mary, friend for 60 years, a wonderful father to Christopher, Michael, Andrew, Rebecca, Laura and their partners, a loved and cherished part to his six grandchildren children, Kira, Rachel, Olive, June, Luna and Lior. He was also a loved brother to Colin, Robin, Laurie, Carol, David and Barry and their partners and of course Peter's many friends who are here today who gave meaning to his life which is obvious by today's attendance. Each of you here have shared your own connection with Peter and I feel sure from speaking with his family that there will be common themes throughout the memories shared today. His greatest legacy is the way that he treated others, particularly those he taught, and of his many interests and his many talents. A gentle, intelligent man with a great sense of humour, Peter shared his love of music with all and nurtured the same passion in others. Family, of course, was Peter's greatest joy. Mary and his children were his biggest advocates. He was always deeply grateful for their unconditional love and their constant support. It would also be remiss of me not to mention Peter's four-legged friend Jasper, the border collie, who is laying very relaxed in the aisle there. He's with us today. Whenever Peter needed to talk through something, he would visit Jasper's owner and Jasper would sit faithfully by his side. Peter adored Jasper and it's clear they shared a very special bond and one that Jasper is missing very much. There is so much to share about this remarkable man and with the many friends and community groups that he was connected to, it hasn't been possible to include speakers beyond his family today. Mary hopes that the following family tributes and the music will be just the start of everyone reflecting on their own, in Peter, in their own ways, both individually and within your shared stories, and hopefully you'll share this afternoon. While you may hear stories and things about Peter that are new to some, others will find yourself revisiting cherished memories that you have of Peter. I'd now like to begin our beautiful tribute session by inviting Mary to begin sharing a bit about Peter's life. Thank you, Mary.
[33:24.14] [MARY] Hope you can all hear me. I'm no great public speaker, but I'm going to start with a few words from the audience. forgive me for having to read and my first attempt was turning into a novel and I couldn't sit have you sit here for hours so I've just taken experts from what I did do. Where do I begin? Peter the intelligent gentle creative man we all loved a family man and a teacher and forever a student himself it's It's impossible to capture in a few short minutes a life cut short, which was one that achieved so much. When you marry, you gain not just a spouse, you inherit a whole family. For the May family, puzzles, mystery novels and cryptic crosswords are essential. These all require the gathering of clues. Today we will have an opportunity to do the same. Who was Peter before we knew him? Or after losing contact? I was blessed to know him for 60 years, his siblings even longer, and I'm sure his children will have their own very unique views. The end was sudden and unexpected. My mind and emotions are all over the place, too many memories. I have settled just for extracts and thoughts in no particular order, but starting soon after we got together, as you call it. What I had written was far too long, so I hope that you can enjoy these little excerpts anyway. Let's start at the very beginning book for me. We had known each other at school, but New Year's Day was different. New Year's Day and I rushed out the back door. Saddle and bridle slung over my left shoulder, hair unbrushed, and bending to pull on my riding boots, I heard a voice. It was Peter, with an invitation to join his family for New Year's lunch. As they say, the rest is history. I was 16 going on 17, just like Liesel in The Sound of Music. Peter failed matriculation on his first attempt by passing, brilliantly, just one subject. That should make any struggling student reassured that there's a good life ahead.
[35:38.32] [MARY] His
[35:38.62] [MARY] mother exiled him to repeat the year at Ringwood High. We kept in touch. Passing matric brilliantly this time, Peter came to me. I have marks to get into accounting or teaching. I suggested primary school teacher. He ticked the box and returned the forms. I thought it was an opening to a discussion, but it was apparently wanted strict advice, telling me later that he knew I was intuitive and he trusted me. Why had I suggested teaching? I didn't really think about it. But he had a gentle nature, was good with his younger siblings, fun loving and intelligent and he had patience and perseverance. I guess I suspected these qualities were a good start. Peter threw himself confidently into everything to offer at Turack Teachers College. He was an active SRC representative, an office bearer and also the college photographer. In this role he took photos at college events to use in the magazine of which of course he was the editor. He participated in production of plays and musicals, relished his first music lessons. Then there was Harry. College days were the days of the Vietnam War. Harry Van Morst, one of Victoria's draft evaders, would mysteriously appear on university and college campuses to speak against conscription and the war, to be whisked away just as mysteriously as the police arrived. I was there. I'll never forget my horror as I realised it was Peter at the wheel of the Ford Transit van speeding away with Harry in the back.
[37:21.60] [LAURIE] Just
[37:22.16] [LAURIE] as the police arrived. I was relieved they were not caught for they surely would have both been in prison. Thanks to Peter's good driving, good intel or just plain good luck they got away with it. He said later it was something he felt strongly about and was prepared to take the risk. Yes, he was a pacifist, a thinker and had great courage. College life was not all extracurricular activities, though sometimes it seemed like it. There were lectures and study and examinations and Peter applied himself to these too, especially music education. We both loved music. I had studied piano for some years and added flute. Peter now had his first serious music lessons that he got as far as he did with so many instruments. It's quite amazing in the end. He learned clarinet and guitar and when he found an old violin in a junk shop, well, why not add another string to the bow, so to speak? Ali Barnes was a general music teacher and choir mistress. During one music lesson she tapped Peter on the shoulder. Peter, are you having trouble with your singing? See me at lunchtime. You never disobeyed Alivans. Peter was not tone deaf but for some reason could not sing in tune. After the meeting with the music teacher, evenings were spent sitting at the piano singing simple songs. Months later, still struggling, he mimed the words to the co
[37:22.16] [LAURIE] as the police arrived. I was relieved they were not caught for they surely would have both been in prison. Thanks to Peter's good driving, good intel or just plain good luck they got away with it. He said later it was something he felt strongly about and was prepared to take the risk. Yes, he was a pacifist, a thinker and had great courage. College life was not all extracurricular activities, though sometimes it seemed like it. There were lectures and study and examinations and Peter applied himself to these too, especially music education. We both loved music. I had studied piano for some years and added flute. Peter now had his first serious music lessons that he got as far as he did with so many instruments. It's quite amazing in the end. He learned clarinet and guitar and when he found an old violin in a junk shop, well, why not add another string to the bow, so to speak? Ali Barnes was a general music teacher and choir mistress. During one music lesson she tapped Peter on the shoulder. Peter, are you having trouble with your singing? See me at lunchtime. You never disobeyed Alivans. Peter was not tone deaf but for some reason could not sing in tune. After the meeting with the music teacher, evenings were spent sitting at the piano singing simple songs. Months later, sSANDRAstrlege anthem at graduation. A
[37:22.16] [LAURIE] as the police arrived. I was relieved they were not caught for they surely would have both been in prison. Thanks to Peter's good driving, good intel or just plain good luck they got away with it. He said later it was something he felt strongly about and was prepared to take the risk. Yes, he was a pacifist, a thinker and had great courage. College life was not all extracurricular activities, though sometimes it seemed like it. There were lectures and study and examinations and Peter applied himself to these too, especially music education. We both loved music. I had studied piano for some years and added flute. Peter now had his first serious music lessons that he got as far as he did with so many instruments. It's quite amazing in the end. He learned clarinet and guitar and when he found an old violin in a junk shop, well, why not add another string to the bow, so to speak? Ali Barnes was a general music teacher and choir mistress. During one music lesson she tapped Peter on the shoulder. Peter, are you having trouble with your singing? See me at lunchtime. You never disobeyed Alivans. Peter was not tone deaf but for some reason could not sing in tune. After the meeting with the music teacher, evenings were spent sitting at the piano singing simple songs. Months later, sSANDRAstrlege anthem at graduation. A
[38:59.56] [MARY] few
[39:00.36] [MARY] years back, Peter was to accompany Mari, his principal, on guitar at the Anzac Dawn service. Mari was delayed. The moment came, Peter sang solo. He pulled it off impeccably, not one note awry. Glancing around at the crowd, I realised I was the only person who knew how far he'd come. I was so pleased for him and so proud. True to his character, he never gave up and he got there in the end. Peter's first school was Cabbage Tree Creek, the small truck with our belongings arriving early on Christmas Day, 1973, and our East Gippsland adventure had begun. Remote one or two teacher schools often drew young graduate teachers, what they lacked and experience they made up for in enthusiasm, each imparting valuable learning for their students. On enrolment day, I'm not going to mention too many names, I'm not sure whether Jane's here, but I'm going to tell this story. On enrolment day, Jane Caldwell, a new preppy, came through the door wailing, I want Mr. Goonan, the previous teacher. Very welcoming. Seven years later, she finished her primary schooling just as Peter moved on to teacher and student now good friends Peter had a gift for building rapport with his students throughout his teaching career his caring nature the kids centered sense of humor often won the day talking about jokes Peter did have a little joke with kids the little kids at school he had convinced the best part of a donut was was the hole in the middle.
[40:51.54] [MARY] They
[40:52.10] [MARY] loved to play along. I'm sure they realised that it was just a great joke that every day that I was at school and he had kids with doughnuts they had to bring him the hole in the centre, which he devoured with great appreciation. Of course most schools had annual camps. These were exciting events with educational overtones. Robyn Sutton, a retired teacher turned bus driver, was highly sought for his navigation and driving skills. The children rarely suffered travel sickness with Robyn at the wheel. Home sickness was another matter. Mr May doled out the TLC and the home sickness tablets. I wonder to this day how many guests they were being dosed with vitamin C.
[41:43.16] [MARY] A
[41:43.84] [MARY] little TLC and imagination went a long way. Then there was movie making. Peter was a great believer in learning through doing. Movie making required creative thinking and language development through script writing and editing. It built confidence through acting, not to mention some serious problem solving. How can we make the magic hat appear and disappear off someone's head? The solution, one child on the roof of the school with a hat attached to a fishing line. Just don't tell OH&S. The inspector came. His report said that Peter was running a happy little school, but perhaps there could be more educational content. Such were the days when the arts and creativity were undervalued. These days, learning through doing is valued. Peter found it suited his teaching style and the children were thriving educationally. He developed this style in his first school but adapted and honed it throughout the years and eventually education generally caught up to him. Peter's DIY was expanding, maybe getting extreme. We built a log cabin, learnt to butcher sheep and tan hides, build a mud brick shack. how hard could it be to deliver a baby? As usual, I did the study. Peter, you need to know this too. His reply is always, just tell me what I need to know. And he'd go on reading the Agatha Christie.
[43:23.86] [MARY] I
[43:24.46] [MARY] went into labour on a beautiful spring morning. Peter lovingly and ably insisted in the successful delivery of Andrew. Andrew. Some years later when Andrew applied for a passport the authorities asked, are you sure you were born in Cabbage Tree Creek, Victoria? We have no other births registered to that place. Yes, certainly a man of many talents. He was prepared to give anything a go. And fortunately Andrew is here today to prove that it was his. We built a log cabin in the Yarra Valley, planning to move there. Then Peter, as always looking to new horizons, fancied mud brick building, and besides, wasn't six acres rather small? Never a dull moment. We were young, strong, healthy and adventurous. I loved Peter so much I would have gone to the ends of the earth with him. And at times, indeed, it felt like I had.
[44:27.72] [MARY] Peter
[44:28.28] [MARY] loved building cubbies, yachts, computers, houses, sheds, creativity and DIY expertise. He had enthusiasm and tenacity. It was 1981, back at Cabbage Tree, and we were moving on. As the year ended, so did Peter's tenure at Cabbage Tree Creek School. school. Bittersweet, we enjoyed our time there. With three adored sons we'd become a family. We were warmly accepted by the wonderful community. We'd shared family's joys and sorrows and they likewise with us. The community grieved together the death of a small student killed when he did not see the truck coming. Peter was magnificent how he handled the tough stuff with his grieving kids and their families. In those days, there weren't the same supports as there are now. Teachers College didn't prepare him for this. It was Peter's compassion, his own kind heart and the connection he'd formed to the people in the community that guided him through. Peter went on to be in many different schools and I can't name them all or in order, but I'm just going to jump around a bit. At one point he was at Numerala School and this is where ukulele came to the fore and we have quite a few ukulele people here today, I think. I went to the music teachers' conferences. Tell me about it, Peter would say. And I'd tell him and he'd go on reading Ruth Rendell. ukulele was becoming a useful teaching instrument but he immediately ordered a class set of ukuleles once he'd finished reading the latest crime novel and proceeded to learn it on the job as you do the highlight was the new roller school playing live on ABC Gippsland radio The clip was so good they replayed it almost daily for months. Very exciting. Goongra School planned a trip to Cambodia. I mean, why do things in half?
[46:57.06] [MARY] And
[46:57.74] [MARY] to achieve this, Peter and I did a trip to make contacts, suss out accommodation, connect with schools. I'd known for ages that Peter had Parkinson's, slowly worsening. Peter was still in denial. Who would want to admit a progressive debilitating disease was theirs? We went to Cambodia to prepare for a monumental Goongara school trip. Peter got malaria. His Parkinson's symptoms suddenly much worsened. We came home, he was treated and later in the year the school had a very successful trip including all the students and the parents. They spent time teaching children in Siem Reap schools how to read in English. They taught them songs in English and they had the delight of playing music with a gamelan orchestra. Many of the musicians were mine victims, missing limbs. Sleep studies and neurology appointments, a definitive diagnosis, well advanced Parkinson's. Peter had been in denial. I knew for over 20 years, suspected for longer. I'd been researching, tweaking diet, lifestyle. You don't just wake up with this disease. Many of the first symptoms are odd and uncertain and it's usually those closest who are first to observe. I researched. Peter Peter would rather read his Ruth Rendell, Agatha Christie, whatever. Just don't bother me with the research. Tell me about it. Sometimes in life, you feel you are just in the right spot at the right time. Peter was fortunate as each teaching position seemed to be just right for that time. Maybe, on reflecting, it was just that he had the innate ability to make the most of where he found himself in life. And so, too, now, Peter was at St Joe's, his condition worsening. Principal and teachers, parents and students were taking into his confidence. No one suggested he should stop teaching. Instead, they rallied around helping him to keep doing what he loved most, teaching. and he was so good at it. Even the young students were keen to help. He'd asked them to wake him up if he started to fall asleep, if he was sitting down. This is a common Parkinson's symptom and of course the kids were all too willing to help. It's no secret that Peter and I separated. I I thought hard about whether and how to share this, but you're all a part of a community that knows pretty much everything that goes on.
[50:13.14] [MARY] Then
[50:13.82] [MARY] I found something Peter had written. To quote, My diagnosis some two years earlier of Parkinson's disease explains some of my stress and emotional instability. Coping with my severe sleep disorder, physical deterioration and mood swings, combined with spending countless hours researching the management of this debilitating syndrome, was taking a toll on Mary's welfare. A weight was lifted off my shoulders, or possibly from my heart. I was still questioning the direction I was choosing for my future. The relationship within our marriage was not breaking down. It was simply changing. As he drove away, the mobile phone rang. It was close to midnight. There was only one possible caller. To suggest that I chose to answer, maybe taking a liberty, he says. Then, as ever since that night, I've needed to answer when Mary called. I cared. The phone call was not long. It was practical. Where was I? Did I have everything I needed? Would I be okay?
[51:28.78] [MARY] She
[51:29.30] [MARY] cared. I don't think I can put it more succinctly than that. Parkinson's had taken its toll. Our relationship had changed. There was a rough patch, but the love and care were there to the end. The separation gave us the space to redefine our our relationship and with the loving support of our five grown children, no one taking sides, they were there for us both, they were the golden thread which held us together and got us through a very difficult time. When asked why we never divorced, Peter would quip, we married for better or worse. It just got a lot worse and it was better to live apart.
[52:07.70] [MARY] We
[52:08.22] [MARY] were free to have our own lives and friendships. We developed respectful boundaries, maintaining caring friendship to the end. We were both always at the end of the phone if either needed the other. Going forward, teaching sessions slowly reduced. Peter replaced some of these with volunteering at the Slab Hut, painting and craft work. He turned up via Zoom to his weekly physio sessions religiously, continued cycling, walking, added to the mindfulness, breathing and strength exercises. As with his singing, he never gave up. He was never defined by his illness. Yes, teacher, but also musician, builder, artist, goodness only knows what, just any DIY, tick of that. To the end he was defined by what he could do and not what he couldn't, by his outstanding character and his attitudes. I have lost a husband, father to our children, pa to our grandchildren and my friend of longest standing. Recently I said to him, I'm terrified about the next stage of life, of my life. He took a sip of coffee, thought for a moment and said, no, don't be, you can make something of this. You've been a carer to so many all of your life and it's time for you now. But I must admit, it feels very odd. After a very long life of caring for a big family, my parents as they aged, friends, you know, and suddenly here I am. but my oldest son met me at the hospital after Peter had died and he said, how are you? And I said, I'm lonely. And he said to me, Mum, don't be lonely. You've got your wonderful family all around you, all of Dad's family and all of us, we're all here for you. And so I guess I really do still have a caring role because I've got them too and they'll always be people that I will care about. Life and love rarely take a straight line. Love takes many forms. Peter and I had a long, loving, caring relationship which changed over time. He loved and was loved by many, especially his large family, who will miss him and love him forever. I've run out. I'm going to introduce Kira, our beautiful granddaughter, daughter who following the family tradition is just starting to study music at Monash University music education I should say Sorry.
[56:10.40] [KEIRA] There are places I'll remember all my life Though some have changed, some forever, not for better Some have gone and some remain All these places have their moments With lovers and friends I still can recall Some are dead and some are living In my life I've loved them all But of all these friends and lovers There is no one compares with you And these memories lose their meaning When I think of love as something new Though I know I'll never lose affection For people and things that went before I know I'll often stop and think about them In my life, I love you more Oh, I know I'll never lose affection For people and things that went before I know I'll often stop and think about them In my life, I love you more In my life, I love you more
[58:43.30] [MARY] Thank you.
[59:08.98] [ROBIN] Well Mary, thank you so much. You've just described Peter's life, you've tried to do that so simply and in a short period, but I'd love to read the novel, even as his brother.
[59:22.50] [MARY] It's just fascinating.
[59:24.28] [ROBIN] So thank you.
[59:25.22] [MARY] I'll be interested to read your part too.
[59:29.44] [ROBIN] Anyway, first off, look, it's amazing that we're all down here today because of Peter. And just thanking him for that. Getting down here from Melbourne, the whole crew of us. And I know Peter is here with us in his spirit and with his soft smile and twinkle in his eye, which he always had. And at the moment, coming down last night, we were dining down at the Marlow pub. complete with thunderstorm and all the rest. But what was most important to me was when I spoke to someone at the bar, the girl said, oh, what are you down here for? And I said, oh, we're just coming down for a memorial for my brother. And she said, oh, Peter, Peter May. I said, yes, that's Peter. And she said, oh, I said, you know him? Oh, he's my teacher, he was wonderful. And then another one came along and said, you're Peter's brother. I felt so proud of who I was.
[60:24.48] [ROBIN] I
[60:24.96] [ROBIN] was living off my brother's reputation. And, you know, we saw Peter's primary school where he taught. And also this morning, first off, Anna and Jasper decided they'd like to go down to Cape Conran, which is one of Peter's favourite places. So they invited me to go swimming with them, but I thought I'd just take a photo of them and be able to have a photograph of where we last saw them. but anyway anyway back with pen in hand getting back from Cape Conran I thought well I don't know what's you know I was going to have this concoct a coherent structural narrative about Peter not knowing what's been gone before and what's coming after so I thought look life's a tapestry now this is Peter and his life was a tapestry he did so many different things that affected so many different people in different ways so got a few thoughts so I think I can see see, it was Peter's hat floating on the pool, the Buccan pool. And Mum, you know, we called it the Buccan pool, but I think she referred it to something similar, Remind, because I almost drowned in the Buccan river. But anyway, that was, we discovered Peter under there. We were having a picnic lunch on the side, and pulled Peter out, he was okay, and off we went. And then the next sort of phase was Peter with his music, and we all know his love of music. The Beatles, which you've heard here. Some of you may never know Herman's Hermits, which he really loved. And Jerry and the Pacemakers. One of the interesting ones was P.J. Crobie. And he sings Maria. Maria, Maria. You don't want me to go on, but we'll just keep going on. It was a very longitudinal sort of thing. It was a yearning song. It's only when I was writing this I realised, and then he's married Mary. Mary, maybe that was the start of it all. And Peter, with his Hillman Minx, that was his first love of life. I think that was before you, wasn't it? Yeah, complete with faux fur interior. I don't know if you know what faux fur is, but it was pretty impressive. And I think I remember one time we were all piled into these Hillman Minx and we were down at the Rosebud Drive-In. So some of you younger ones won't know what a drive-in is, but that's weird. You hop in your car, go down and see a movie, and you try and keep the windows unfolded and try and listen to really scruffy audio. And if you didn't, Rosebud was good, because if you didn't like the movie, you just turned the car around and looked at the screen on behind you because it was a different movie. Anyway, Peter, so... Oh, next comment, we're getting towards the end. But I sort of was, to my chagrin, you know, here I was at Telecom or Telstra or PMG Research, whatever the name was at the time, studying, well, we're developing solar charging for batteries and, you know, this is to go on with Peter's stations and whatever. So here we are, we're working hard at it, just working out battery capacity and solar panel sizing and all the rest. And what the hell? Peter's down at Beat Blanc. He sets up his own gear down at Beat Blanc well before all the researchers got to the point. And now, only recently, last year, I put on my own solar power and battery system, then I look around and see everybody else is doing it. So when you talk about a doer, Peter got in there and did it. And one of my fond memories as a family was when we would rock up, me, Heather and the four daughters and it was here today and the other three daughters were so much in love with coming down to beat belong and mixing with peter's and peter and mary's five children it was just like heaven for him so and becca's nodding her head it was just a wonderful time ah yeah could go on for longer but other people have got more something to say and they can fill in the tapestry of peter's life but just coming into the golf club today I thought oh my goodness that brings back a memory of 10 years ago or 20 years ago 20 year Peter and I played golf here and I've looked up at the the board at the back there and their names aren't on there I can guarantee we yeah we should about it we had the highest score of anyone it was well in excess of a hundred
[65:20.32] [MARY] for the first nine
[65:24.92] [ROBIN] Anyway, dear Peter, we love you and we just love your care and laughter. That will live on with us forever. So I've said what I've had to say, but I think Colin and David and Barry have all got something to say. So Colin, would you like to say?
[65:46.34] [COLIN] Good afternoon, everyone. Robin just reminded me of something with the Horminx dashboard. So I was in Gladiastyle, getting my motor scooter fixed by the mechanic there, technically known, and he'd seen Peter's car and he made a comment on his dashboard, Anyway, aside from that we had this Morris 8th, Mary'sville, she used to learn to drive in and taught Peter to drive in at before he got his Hillman. and one day we decided to go down to the peninsula in this Morrisay. The ball was crowded into it and the weather turned pretty bad, wind in, pouring rain in the area and the canvas were apart. I was trying to hold bits of pieces down. Anyway, that's my bit.
[67:07.44] [DAVID] That's my trip. Small though I was, I can still remember that terrifying trip. But I'll always remember Peter as a kind, creative and generous brother. Someone who was always willing to help, always giving of his time. always finding some inventive way, Mary does make clear, a way to make life richer for the people around him. But just one moment really sticks in my head, or one day really sticks in my head. That's when Bea and I were staying with friends from church down at Painesville, primarily goes fishing, with one head of boat. but six of us set out to ride the rail trail from Bairnsdale towards Orbost. Well, it was a long and ambitious ride. We were already feeling it when we saw Peter with his trailer hitched to his car waiting for us at a spot where the trail came close to the road and he happily rode us piled our bikes into the trailer and rescued us. Drove us back to his home in Beekalong. Now Mary of course had been true to style. Mary was preparing a sumptuous lunch for us all. She didn't know these guys that had been born with us but their generosity of that day was just characteristic of them both. Thoughtful, practical, and quietly extravagant in kindness. As we grieve his sudden loss, we find ourselves returning to the moments like these, reminders of how fortunate we were to have known him, for me to have had as a brother, even though much older. He'd left home by the time I was a teenager. But we're just deeply grateful for the rich and general life that Peter lived, the generous life that Peter lived, and for the memories that he gave us. They're gifts that we will carry forward with gratefulness.
[69:47.88] [BARRY] Peter where do you start? Thank you Mary, again those words ring so true and so much that I didn't know. Being a sort of an afterthought in the family, I missed out on some of the fun with holding canvas roofs onto cars or some of the other wonderful exploits. But But I guess one of my first memories of really being with Peter and Mary was when my mum and dad sent me off on a bus to Cabbage Tree Creek. I think I must have been the age of nine or something. It was my first big adventure and I got to stay. Maybe it was being gone, one or the other. Anyway, I had the real honour of being able to go to school and have Peter as my teacher. And it was amazing. Yeah, it was just wow. Wow. Inexperienced teachers? No, well, it's what they say. They
[70:40.86] [MARY] bring a rich heritage with them.
[70:43.60] [BARRY] I'd never had such a good teacher, and just one day or two days, and it was awe-inspiring. And then after that, either that trip or later on, he taught me, he was the person who taught me how to milk goats. A bit later on, how to shoot a gun. And then maybe it was a Cabbage Street Creek one would say, saying, no guns. I've been running around with sticks shooting people. He said, no, no, none of that here. So a pacifist, but knew how to shoot rabbits. What are you still for? And teaching me about the bush, he was the one who taught me the difference between gum and tree. He said, it's true when trees are easy. There's gum and trees and stringy barks
[71:23.92] [ANDREW] and
[71:23.92] [BARRY] boxes. Oh, okay. Right, that makes sense. And maybe that helped me with my career as a forest generator. But also with the inspiration with solar panels and wind power and self-sufficiency and had such a huge influence on me as well as everyone here. And I know, as with me, everyone in this room has been touched profoundly by Peter and his spirit lives on. Beautiful grandchildren here, Olive and June, Leo and Luna, as well as wonderful Akira and Rachel and all of the the others here that have been hugely touched by his life. He couldn't help but get tangled up with Peter's thinking and wisdom. But on that first trip, he also left me with a few things in subsequent trips. One is the grace we sing at every dinner when our children sang it with us as well, which Peter and Mary sang. Imagine singing a grace, and that was such a beautiful thing. Every dinner I've had since, we've always sung that that grace and that's going to live with us forever. The other one was that trip, that first trip to school and started the class with singing and the song was Hey Good Morning. It was just, Hey good morning, oh good morning, what a lovely day. Hey good morning, oh good morning, won't you come my way. And those words have really stuck with me for the rest my life and really yeah I want to go your way Peter not literally today but follow your heart your truth and your wisdom thank
[73:03.18] [LAURIE] you well you can see Peter was really loved by his family he was the fourth production from a wonderful mother and today I'm sure Frank and Lucy are here in spirit. They were so proud of all of us and Peter was one of those people that I ran away to Queensland in 1976 and I've always been closely in touch with and he's been an inspiration to me up there not just because mum at one stage was going to write a book seven methods of birth control it's now it was to be chapter four so we can only think the good Lord that Peter did arrive and he's been a wonderful mentor to so many people since and he's actually been inspirational in my life there's so many different jobs I've worked in Queensland so many people have known and the number of times that I've I've actually referred back to Peter and Mary and with anecdotes about the challenges they faced over so many years with not just building slab huts and mud brick huts, but raising five children and raising them so well. And then passing all that knowledge on to grandchildren and children through schools and Mary through her teaching of music as well. But both of them have touched so many lives and it's been inspirational to know them. So I can only wish Peter all the best where he's gone now and he'll always be remembered. Thank you.
[74:51.54] [BARRY] I'd just like to say that I spoke to Carol yesterday, our sister, who really wanted to be here too. She's not well enough for the huge trip unfortunately, but she sent her best wishes to everyone here and she said she's here with us in spirit today and she's just got wonderful thoughts and memories of Peter.
[75:17.62] [KEIRA] We are Peter's grandchildren, we're going to sing something for you. As grandchildren who all live awfully far away, we may not have the privilege of seeing our mem and pa every weekend, like some of our friends and some people we've met. But the distance doesn't feel that far when you've grown up with the stories and the songs that we have. I've come to learn that music is a boundless force and it's a thread that connects us across generations. There's nowhere we can go that it will not follow. So far. When your grandchildren sing for you today and forever we know you're listening. Thank you.
[76:48.46] [KEIRA] When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me Speaking words of wisdom that I need And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be Whisper words of wisdom, let it be When the brokenhearted people living in the world agree There will be an answer, let it be But though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see There will be an answer, let it be Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be There will be an answer, let it be Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be Whisper words of wisdom, let it be And when the night is cloudy There is still a light that shines on me Shine until tomorrow, let it be I wake up to the sound of music Mother Mary calls to me Speaking words of wisdom Let it be Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be Speaking words of wisdom Let it be Let it be Let it be Let it be Let it be Whisper words of wisdom Let it be
[79:28.96] [KEIRA] Would you all like to join us for another chorus? I hope you know the words. Let
[79:35.34] [KEIRA] it be Let it be, let it be. Whisper words of wisdom. Let it be.
[80:36.40] [MARY] Thank you. Thank you.
[80:57.44] [SHARON] The best thing about being short is you always get special attention. attention, knives, steps, anything. Anyway, welcome today. The reading I'm about to share was today was specially chosen by Mary May with a lot of consideration and love, as it's It's truly a piece that captures the spirit of the Peter Maeve you all know and cherish. As I read these words, I think we'll all catch glimpses of Peter in every line, reminding us of the wonderful soul that he was to all of us. A reading from 1 Corinthians 13 verses 4 to 8 Love is patient, love is kind It does not envy, it does not boast It is not proud It does not dishonour others It is not self-seeking it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. We've all lost someone special in Peter, so why not take a leap from his book and support each other in our grief with kindness and compassion. I will now hand you over to Andrew along with his siblings Chris, Rebecca and Laura who will now share cherished moments and fond memories with their dad. Thank you.
[83:27.74] [ANDREW] I guess the advantage of being after someone who's short, you get special attention. So, who was that? He was the top of practical, engaging teacher, empathetic, real, wholesome and musical. And he liked a good cryptic crossword,
[83:50.74] [ANDREW] maybe
[83:52.30] [ANDREW] with a cup of coffee or tea. Best of First of all, he was imperfect. Imperfect, but young at heart, loving and kind. And I think we'll all miss him.
[84:11.26] [CHRIS] Just on the cryptic crossword comment, I didn't get this standard beforehand, if you take the words of Peter Rennie, you can turn that into the word temper. Which wasn't what he was about at all. Oh, good temper. Ah, that is what we
[84:30.70] [CHRIS] say
[84:30.70] [CHRIS] to students, if he's always temper-occasionally.
[84:34.36] [BARRY] Well kept it.
[84:37.60] [CHRIS] OK, I'm going to speak, and I'm actually speaking more on behalf of myself than Michael. So Michael can talk a bit here as well as we'd like to. I'm Chris. And apologies if I fumble about this. I forgot my glasses today because I'm getting old now. So
[84:52.40] [CHRIS] I
[84:52.40] [CHRIS] had to zoom my font up to get in size. I'm not iPad size, actually. I'm Chris. I'm the eldest of Dad's five children. I'm the language of my own children. Has born. Between the five of us, we have a total of 230 years' relationship with Dad. But it still feels like he's taken from us way too soon and we have way too much with him to promise to. It's really hard to do justification for him with the few minutes we've got to share. But we're going to share a few things from a generation perspective. To start with, I'm going to read a small poem he wrote in 2020 and sent to me as an intro to a book he planned to write. Where do I start in the writing of this book? My mind holds desire for a positive outlook. All that is written about degenerative disease, Parkinson's fits that without thank you or please. Is lacking in hope more likely despair? will enter your heart no more joy for you there what if you're freed what if you're found reading by the fire or late at night in bed chapters with words inspiring a hopeful outlook instead instead of passively peering down into a black hole there's a magic a myriad of ideas for you to take back control my story is real but a science there's a lack it is a story of joy looking forward and not back i will tell it as it has been as it is and will be will it be helpful to others let's wait and see. He unfortunately never finished his book but I believe there's quite a few writings we're trying to get to which could be shared. But the last line that says it all even when he was ill and knew he had a pretty grim future he was looking at how he could help others or teach others or learn himself and pass on that learning. And that was a core part of his life as we've heard from other people. Now going to Dad's school means the line was blurred between our Dad who taught us at home and Mr May our teacher. Particularly for Michael and I and also Andrew. Michael and I were one year apart in primary school and Andrew was two years again behind us. So for I think just one year all three of us were actually in Dad's class. I'm going to talk about dad first. I remember when quite young and there were less of us, probably around 1982, and this is a little memory of one of many stories I could share, but it's just one that means something to me. We're in our paddock at Buitballong, dad jumped out of the car and chased a rabbit. We saw him in the paddock, we saw him return a few minutes later and said oh you didn't catch it he had he had it hidden under his jacket or his probably fashionable cardigan he's wearing at the time and he caught this rabbit imagine the respect from his three young sons wow how did you manage to catch it then
[87:45.66] [CHRIS] his
[87:47.02] [CHRIS] explanation stays with me to this day well i just had to chase him until he got tired of running that's what i do with sharon's For a youngster the lesson here was that a rabbit could run faster than a person but only for a short period of time. But as I got older that message was reinforced time and time again from him and that morphed into the fact that it did not matter if you were the strongest, the baddest, the smartest, the fastest or smartest. As if you are passionate and apply yourself to difficult tasks and situations, the desired outcome will often be achieved. Not always but often it will work out. So do not be afraid to give things a go, which has already been said about him twice today. And boy did our dad give things a go. He was, for us among other things, teacher, builder, electrician, plumber, mechanic, farmer, gardener, woodchopper, white water tour operator, and I don't have time for that story today, but if anybody sees me later feel free to ask and I'll tell it. He was a cyclist, he was a motorcyclist, and completely looked the part with his Hells Angels beard. He was a maker of music, he was a maker of musical instruments. He was a bee-catcher, of sorts. That's another story for another time. Sorry Andrew about the stings on your back. He was a note-card designer and builder. Well, why not? There are many other things that I thought of just even driving here today that I was going to list, but it'll take all day, so I'll stop there. He was our driving instructor with lessons starting at around seven years of age. Because that's the right old age you should be driving. Side note which
[89:27.68] [CHRIS] I
[89:27.68] [CHRIS] didn't write down, by the time I was fourteen he would occasionally get out of the car driving home from Orwost at night and say, like, you hop in the driver's seat, well I'm not old enough to drive. Yes, but it's not a problem, just don't crash into any other cars. He taught us to shoot. Many years later, I asked him whether leaving a bunch of pre-teen kids borrowing a slug gun at boxes without supervision was actually responsible and sensible. He said he did not see a problem with this as he trusted us to be smart and quote, always carry the gun pointing it at your feet. If you shoot someone in the foot, they'll probably live. If you shoot them somewhere else, it could be a problem. He also insisted the slugs from that gun would not have perforated skin, but they went through the boxes pretty well. Dave kept getting things going until he left us, just left us. Just three weeks before we passed, Sharon and I stopped over for a night on the weekend. He asked me to take the satellite dish off the roof of his house. Why dad, it's not doing any harm there. Well, because I think it'll make a good gong. Oh my god. Now, the important thing from this for me is he gave it a go. He produced a beautiful piece of artwork it doesn't really really well but you can bang if you want
[90:45.54] [CHRIS] but
[90:45.94] [CHRIS] the fact that he completed that project within two weeks of me taking it off the roof before I had a full so I'm pretty pretty impressed with that that was also full of cheeky humor I'm not going to go through all the ones I had written down will take too long but I remember one morning standing a few meters apart peeing through the gopets at home as young men will do and the And the Kookaburras started to laugh. Without even turning around, Dad just simply says, Who do you think they're laughing at, you or me? And I still think of that comment every time I hear Kookaburras laughing, which happened two days ago. Now, Michael and I are going to do a bit of interaction with the audience for the next part of this. We've already heard about Dad the teacher and Peter the teacher. For a change of pace, we want to talk a little bit about Mr May the teacher. So I'm hoping you're all up for a little bit of audience participation. First of all, in a second I'm going to say on behalf of Mr May, good afternoon. And I want everybody to respond as we would have at school with a good afternoon, Mr May. So, on behalf of Dad, good afternoon family, friends, fellow musicians and painters. Good afternoon, Mr May. He would have been thrilled with that. Next step is we're going to do a few math lessons and language lessons. So get ready, shout out your answers. And there are gold stars and if they don't get handed out, feel free to grab one on the way out. So first of all, what's six times seven? 22. Too slow. What's nine times eight? 72. What's eight times nine? 72. He always did that at school. What's 10 squared? 100. What's the square root of 144? 4. What's 11 squared? 121. Oh, it's slowing down now, isn't it? What's 13 squared? 159. Oh, wow. That's a great view by a couple of the youngsters. What's 17 squared? Oh, crap. It's 289. I was born on the 17th of July, so it's my favourite number. And the square root of 17 is 4.123. OK, so we can see now who in this audience might have had Mr May teaching maths. Times, tables, races and time trials on the times tables, because we had to get under a certain time for up to 12 by 12s, were part of everyday learning, particularly at Milo Primary School in our days. Interestingly enough, as kids, we spent a fair bit of time debating how the correct way to say the times tables was.
[93:42.10] [CHRIS] Do
[93:42.42] [CHRIS] you say 1 times 2 equals 2? Or can you say 1, 2 is 2? Or could you say 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 2, 3, 4, 0? Because most of us could do the 2 times tables in less than 10 seconds up to 12 times. As kids we were so busy determining the rules for this that we were not even conscious that we were learning by rote these times tables, which have stuck in our heads to this day and are still enormously useful for those of us that have it in business. You've got the answer out before the people have got their calculators in. Also in language, spelling and grammar were key to gold stars. And Dad did have charts on his school walls. it's probably terribly inappropriate now to be judging kids against each other so I'm not allowed to do it but he used to have charts on the walls with people's names on it and you'd collect stars and he would make sure the people that weren't getting stars were getting the extra coaching to get those stars, that's one of the ways he operated. The only way. So in spelling, would anybody like to spell Constantinople? Michael?
[94:45.52] [PETER] C-o-n-s-t-a-n-t-i-n-o-p-l
[94:45.52] [CHRIS] Oh,
[94:51.56] [CHRIS] give yourself a gold star. So in class, in class there's the type of things Mr May would do and then he'd move on to, okay, so how do we spell the longest word, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious? Anybody want to give it a go?
[95:06.88] [CHRIS] I
[95:07.24] [CHRIS] didn't have enough time in this and I've already probably gone over time. Of course, when Mr May asked that, some smarty pants in the class, I'm pretty sure his name is Michael Hall, pointed out that the longest word is actually pneumonio-ultra-microscopic-silico-volcano-coniosis. And you know what? Typical Mr May fashion, by the end of that class, pretty much all the students know how to break down a word like that and spell it accurately. That's how he operated.
[95:36.72] [CHRIS] In
[95:37.16] [CHRIS] other words, and these are Michael's words here, Mr May's teaching was wildly unconventional. Unconventional? She'll put that word. This got touched on earlier, but the Cabbage Tree Kids, and let's be clear when we say kids we're talking about folks who are now well into middle age and in some cases grandparents, might remember creating and starring in a rip-off of Robin Hood movies shot on an old Movie 8 camera I think. It was mine,
[96:02.32] [MARY] it was a Super 8.
[96:03.54] [CHRIS] It was a Super 8 camera.
[96:04.86] [MARY] It was given to me for my birthday and I never got to use it.
[96:04.86] [CHRIS] Because I was always at school
[96:09.40] [CHRIS] doing some good work. Those movies still exist and I have copies of some of those. Magic Hat 1 I'm missing unfortunately. And later on, Marlow promised students might remember its sequel, this time reaching copyright on BMX Bandits, filmed on VHS, modern technology around 1986. Or lots and lots of activities at school, like building hot air balloons from tissue paper and putting fire, like actual fire, underneath them. Probably not part of the standard curriculum in science, but very few injuries were sustained and to Mike's relief no bushfires have started. You've heard enough from me now, I hope I haven't spent too long on one now, have you dear? Go on. The one last thing I'll leave you with is a quote from one of Mr May's primary students from Arlo. This comment made a year after we had finished BC and gone on to uni and tertiary education. We sat in the top pub. This was a fabulous town because growing up we had two pubs. We were there as a whole bunch of students. We had partners, friends, a couple of people who brought kids because they had kids pretty young. And we were talking about people and this particular person said, loudly to everybody, Chris May, his dad was my teacher, and he turned around and he said, your dad was the best goddamn teacher we ever had I reckon. And that pretty much sums up Mr May. Yeah. I can't expect him.
[97:46.40] [REBECCA] He's going to continue that time. I promise isn't long. A couple of years ago I sat with Dad while he talked me through his advanced care directive. and the thing that struck me most after that day was the question what worries me most about my future under which he'd written no longer being able to play music
[98:07.76] [REBECCA] those
[98:09.42] [REBECCA] who are lucky enough to learn or play music with dad over the decades would likely have recognized that he wasn't born with a huge amount of natural talent as my siblings will attest as children would often wince as he struggled to sing songs in any identifiable key but dad was born with something better than talent, a passion for music that seemed to keep growing throughout his life, as did his skill. From tin whistle in the morning as he went about his chores, to dulcimer beside the fireplace in the evenings, some of my strongest and fondest memories of Dad are his music making. And for many children over his lifetime of teaching, Dad was the first to put an instrument in their hands, sharing this gift. What Dad taught me was the joy of music, of learning, of continuing to practice and grow skills throughout throughout a lifetime, the joy of music making just for the love of it, and the gift of making and sharing music with others. So in that spirit, I'm going to share a short piece that I've written based on a folk song that I would hear Dad play on the dulcimer, the one that he made right here. Perhaps you can imagine him, the dulcimer on his lap, a feather in one hand strumming the strings and a small stick in the other sliding on the frets.
[99:48.44] [REBECCA] piano plays softly piano plays softly
[100:56.56] [REBECCA] piano plays softly
[100:56.56] [LAURA] Thank you. Thanks, Bec. I had to go get some tissues. Hey, Dave. I'm Laura, the youngest of Peter and Mary's five children. And I got less time with Dad than my siblings, and less time than a lot of you in this room, so I'm
[102:06.96] [LAURA] going
[102:06.96] [LAURA] to make up for that time here and now. LAUGHTER So some heroes wear capes and some drive 1985 white Mazda vans through rising floodwaters to get their two daughters to their Boram Dancing Medals. Don't try this at home, but you might be able to picture it. The time our Boram Dancing Medals coincided with the 1991 Snowy River floods. Beck and I, more taffeta than Bonnie Mouse, in the back of the van, being told to put our feet up on the seats as we watched the floor of the car turn into a swimming pool. Dad really determined to get us there. Not super risk adverse, our dad. Another early memory is seeing dad with legs flailing in the air several metres off the ground the day we were putting up our wind generator and that dad was holding on to seesaw up, taking dad with us. Picture. Yeah. I got to pay back dad's tourism the day he did a really decent job of trying to cut his leg off with a chainsaw.
[103:10.74] [UNKNOWN] Oh, yeah.
[103:11.92] [LAURA] He called me from the bathroom. Laura, I might need some help. and I entered the bathroom and saw bloody towels everywhere and Dad says to me, I need you to drive me to the hospital, which would have been fine except I was 14 years old. So whilst we'd all learnt to drive quite competently by the age of 10, Dad had been letting me drive on railroads for some time. Sorry, Mum. Like any sensible Dad, he had drawn the line that let me drive on the highway until that day. So I remember approaching the turn up into the highway. Can you believe you can picture where I'm coming up to the highway? And Dad's beside me. his eyes are closed at this point, he's completely white and I'm gripping the steering wheel and I said, what do I do? And he said, didn't open his eyes, he said, you're
[103:53.56] [LAURA] going
[103:53.56] [LAURA] to turn onto the highway. There's me sitting there trying to judge these hundred kilometres per hour cars coming past and how I'm going to slide in between them for the first time ever and hoping my dad's going to make it through it all. I don't know if any of you remember the first time you had to go onto a road with cars travelling at 100 kilometres per hour, but I forever will thanks to dad and that day. Did I mention he made it? Yeah, like he lived. Another 26 years actually. Yeah, another 26. It's not enough though, is it? Not with the ones we love. Not with a guy as enthusiastic about life as dad. Dad. Rarely was a drive to school just a drive to school. Always the opportunity to get curious. I remember watching the life cycle of this giant toadstool. Dad pulling the car over every day to get out to see what stage it was at now until it was just a flop on the ground. Another time we pulled over when there'd been a bit of a landslide up over the snowy and this big chunk of cliff had fallen down and I thought it was a bit bananas until he he taught me how to chisel fossils out, which was very cool. He was always up for a stop by the river to have a swim on hot days and always up for a road trip on a whim as well. When I'm asked to summarise Dad, it's usually, if he could, he would, and if he couldn't, he'd find another way. This is an approach to life that I've adopted and I'm really grateful he modelled for me. Dad loved to cycle. When he couldn't cycle anymore, he got his electric back. and when he couldn't manage that anymore, he got his track. It's pretty inspiring.
[105:33.36] [LAURA] He
[105:33.80] [LAURA] was inspiring. Not always. I did not find his decision to revive knee-high socks and sandals as his preferred teaching attire of the year. I changed schools, inspiring it all. Maybe he was trying to build my resilience against the making of kids.
[105:49.12] [LAURA] But
[105:49.56] [LAURA] he was never known for his fashion sense.
[105:53.38] [LAURA] He
[105:53.82] [LAURA] just didn't really give a hoot. you know if somebody didn't like something he did or i went to him i said somebody something somebody didn't like something i was doing he'd tell me not to worry too much about what other people thought of us so i'm going to share a memory of dad's teaching last week i saw this on facebook actually it wasn't even directly to me but i've been really touched by reading everybody's little um tales about dad learning things about him that i never knew i do remember him doing things like this there was a cheeky kid in one of his classes picking on him for his his really unkempt beard, and he turned it into a maths lesson, getting them all to work out how much time he was saving in his life by not shaving. Time he spent, well, making music, crafting instruments, building, writing, drawing, painting, doing crosswords, practising Qigong, and even building a meditation temple in his backyard. Somewhere along the way, Dad's philosophy...
[106:54.14] [LAURA] Somewhere along the way, Dad's philosophy on life and my own fell into sync. Sometimes as the youngest in the family, you're always seen as the baby, even when you're 40.
[107:07.86] [LAURA] Dad didn't make me feel that way. He loved learning from me, the exchange of knowledge. We spoke about energy practices, breathwork, yoga. He was the first to request to take a breathwork session with me shortly after I returned from my first training in India. And even these past Christmas holidays, he participated as best he could in a yoga class in his backyard with two of his granddaughters. From dad I learned that appropriate action, sprinkled with a little faith and trust is what creates magic in life. On the phone last year when I called on a day he wasn't doing so well, he said to me, I really just want to be well enough to come to your yoga studio. Dad was fairly straightforward about the ups and downs of his Parkinson's condition, but that day I felt the raw sadness and I was sad too. Unable to attend with himself, Dad still brought magic to these beautiful yoga spaces. He organised his friend Doogie, Janet's beautiful son, son, and part of the inspiration of this political going, to offer sound bath sessions at my yoga studio this past December. No fee, he wanted me to offer it as a gift to the community, generously sharing the offering of healing sound which he had become so interested in, with dozens and dozens of people he'd never even met but he knew that were important to me. He was so insistent about this that it makes me wonder if he knew it was coming. I know I speak on behalf of all of the family that I'm so grateful for the community of interesting and beautiful friends that dad had people he'd known for a lifetime and some new friends he spoke often and really fondly of you all I'm almost there, I promise. Dad, thank you for the ways you would show us you were there and that you cared. The gentle but firm squeeze at the end of your hugs that told us you'd really be present. For what you share and how you shape not just your own children but so many others to be so in touch with the world around us. the curious and passionate about so many of the things that make life really, really beautiful. You are not the drop in the ocean of life. You are the ocean in that drop.
[109:30.24] [LAURA] I'm
[109:30.72] [LAURA] Shanti.
[109:47.14] [CELEBRANT_GINA_BRAKEY] I didn't have the privilege of knowing Peter, but I feel confident to speak for him when I say how proud he would be of all this family. Touchy. I'm actually sitting over there in some tears. It's been amazing. I'm sure that everyone here would agree that this farewell today is ticking all the boxes. Heartfelt tributes and memories, a little bit of humour, which has made me laugh, and, of course, music, which was so important to him. and a special thanks to Kira for that beautiful song she sang earlier and also for the grandchildren for coming forward to seeing Let It Be. Your Pa would be so proud today. Now on that note we now get to have a moment where we take a trip down memory lane through photos. Peter's family have put together a lovely photo presentation to again as I mentioned a Mozart piece that Peter loved and it's a lovely way to sit quietly and reflect and tie all those memories together as we take a trip down memory lane of his life so please enjoy
[111:38.22] [SINGER] ¶¶
[111:44.02] [SINGER] I'd like to try to read your heart I used to think I was some kind of gypsy Before I let you take me home Now so long, baby It's time we began to love Right, right, right I love you, love you all Well
[112:31.38] [SINGER] you know that I love to live with you
[112:39.78] [SINGER] But you make me forget so very much I forget to pray for the angels And then the angels forget to pray for us So long, Mary, it's time we began to love and cry We cried and cried and laughed about
[113:17.22] [SINGER] it all again We met when we were all young Deep
[113:36.32] [SINGER] in the green light of my heart
[113:42.34] [SINGER] You
[113:43.56] [SINGER] held on to me like I was a crucifix And I've been feeling through the dark For so long I'm a queen of love and crime and crime and love I'm a lover of it all
[114:21.36] [SINGER] Your letters, they all say that you're beside me now Then
[114:31.54] [SINGER] why do I
[114:33.32] [SINGER] feel alone?
[114:38.10] [SINGER] I'm standing on a ledge And your fine spiral web Is fastening my ankle to the stone Now so long, baby It's time we began to love and cry and cry and love and
[115:07.32] [SINGER] love it all. For now I need your love. I'm
[115:26.54] [SINGER] cold as a new razor blade. You left when I told you I was curious. I never said that I was brave. Oh, so long, baby It's time we began to laugh And cry, and cry And laugh
[116:01.60] [SINGER] about it all again Oh, you are really such a pretty one I see you've gone and changed your name again
[116:27.26] [SINGER] And just when I climbed this whole mountainside To wash my eyelids in the rain For so long and yet Finally we began to laugh and cry and cry Right and left,
[116:56.54] [SINGER] love it all.
[117:13.16] [PETER] There is one thing I know is true. And that is my, my, my love for you But soon my sweet, I must be gone When the grass is wet with dew When the grass is wet with dew
[118:08.12] [CELEBRANT_GINA_BRAKEY] Did you get
[118:09.08] [CELEBRANT_GINA_BRAKEY] the book back?
[118:10.50] [MARY] You knew!
[118:12.66] [CELEBRANT_GINA_BRAKEY] So just to fill you in on just the video presentation, obviously Peter's family arranged that and the Mozart song, we did begin with that. It
[118:22.62] [MARY] gave me a nod.
[118:24.12] [CELEBRANT_GINA_BRAKEY] And they snuck in, was it Leonard Cohen? Snuck in the Leonard Cohen song and Bec said, don't say anything to mum. And so we were all watching for her face and she straight away looked at Bec. But it was perfect. It finished perfectly. It was fine.
[118:24.12] [MARY] Leonard Cohen was a part of
[118:42.96] [MARY] our
[118:42.96] [CELEBRANT_GINA_BRAKEY] Exactly.
[118:42.96] [MARY] courting. Quarter
[118:44.82] [MARY] years.
[118:45.48] [CELEBRANT_GINA_BRAKEY] Well, as we move into our final song today, which the family invites you all to share in, and hopefully you did pick up a little piece of paper as you walked in with the words to the song, may we hold on to Peter's generosity, his caring spirit, his sharp mind, and the kindness he gave so freely. Peter's journey doesn't end here. It lives on in the stories we share, the conversations he inspired, and the life that continues to unite us. This time together is going to be remembered for many reasons and mostly as a special day when we come together to honour Peter, to pay our respects and say a heartfelt farewell to a man we were all privileged to ignore. It takes a village to care and support a loved one with Parkinson's and Peter's family are so grateful to each person who has given their time, their compassion and their understanding. Mary, Chris, Mike, Andrew, Bec and Laura, thank you all. Family, friends, doctors and district nurses and Peter's chosen carer Gay. The care and the kindness shown was appreciated greatly. In the words of celebrated poet Rumi who wrote about the deeper meaning of human connection, goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with their heart and souls there is no separation. May Peter rest in peace, held always in the love he gave so freely. As we come together at the end of today's service for this more formal part, I'm now going to hand you over to Bec, who's handing out these little pieces of paper. And I think the family are going to come together and then anyone who wishes to, we're going to join in song for our last piece of music today. Well, obviously not last, but the final piece of this formal part, Stand By Me. And can I ask you just all to join me in one last round of applause for Peter.
[120:43.54] [REBECCA] So this is not a performance, it's more a group coming together to play in the way that Doug would have really liked. If you have an instrument here and you'd like to join us, please get it now. We're going to play Stand By Me and this is, oh and if anyone wants to come up and play the xylophone that would be amazing. You need to know four notes and they're written on the xylophone. You need to be able to play a G, an E, what's next? C and a D. If you don't have the words there's more at the back. Thank you. So we might start just by getting people playing the four chords. Does everybody know the G? And an E?
[122:22.10] [REBECCA] And a sing, and a dame.
[122:51.78] [KEIRA] When the night has come and the land is dark and the moon is the only light we'll see No, I won't be afraid No, I won't be afraid Just as long as you stand, stand by me Darling, darling, stand by me Oh, stand by me Oh, stand, stand by me, stand by me. If the sky that we look upon should tumble and fall, and the mountains should crumble to the sea, I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear Just as long as you stand, stand by me So darling, darling, stand by me, oh stand by me Oh, stand now, stand by me, stand by me Soulers So darling, darling, stand by me Oh, stand by me Oh, stand now Stand by me Stand by me Stand by me, oh stand by me, oh stand Stand by me, stand by me Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me, oh Oh, stand by me. Oh, stand. Stand by me. Stand by me. Whenever you're in trouble, won't you stand by me? Oh, stand by me. Oh, stand. Stand by me. Stand by me. Stand by me, oh stand by me, oh stand, stand by me, stand by me.
[126:34.40] [MARY] Thank you.