Strangers have filled a Melbourne chapel to farewell a man none of them had ever met after long-lost family members in Ireland had their plans to attend ruined by the war in Iran.
Irishman Michael Purcell, who came to Australia in 1956, died at 88 in September last year, and faced with the prospect of a memorial service attended by just one or two mourners the funeral director made an appeal to the community with the permission of family.
The call-out was then taken up by Irish community groups and popular Facebook page communityPete, who wrote “no one should be laid to rest alone”, resulting in dozens of strangers showing up at Springvale Botanical Cemetery on Friday morning.
“Funerals are a deeply important part of Irish culture and for his family, it is difficult for them to think that no one would be there in person to farewell him,” Botanical Funerals wrote in their appeal.
“With their permission, we are reaching out to the Melbourne community and beyond, If you are available and feel called to attend, your presence would mean so much and would be deeply appreciated by his family.
“You don’t need to be Irish to attend, anyone is welcome and we would love to fill the chapel with kindness and human presence.”
The funeral was livestreamed for Mr Purcell’s family in Ireland, who had spent decades trying to find him before seeing his death note, and the footage showed mourners streaming into the chapel for the service, with 35 strangers in attendance along with his Melbourne-based niece and sister-in-law.
Lisa Snelling told 10 News she turned up at the funeral “because everybody needs to have somebody”.
“We need a bit more kindness and compassion around, especially at this time, so I just thought you don’t want anybody to be on their own,” she said.
Another mourner, Gloria Grimshaw, said seeing so many attendees was “very special” and showed “there are nice people in the world still”.
Shirlene Alison, company director at Botanical Funerals, told 3AW on Friday morning the response to the community call-out was overwhelming.
“We’ve had to turn down people coming because we filled the room very quickly,” she said.
“It just goes to show how beautiful people really are in these difficult times. We’re all blown away by everyone’s kindness.”
Header image: Left, mourners at the service (communityPete). Right, Michael Purcell (Botanical Funerals).
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