Obituaries

Tony was born 'Anthony John' on the 2nd January, 1958, born in South Yarra, Victoria. 5th and final born to 'Margaret Jean Bourke' and 'Harold William Uren' Tony had 4 No. Siblings – me (William James) born in Yackandandah, on 9th June, 1951; Kathryn Anne on 17th July, 1952, also born in Yackandandah (Dec); Julie Rose on 2nd January 1954 in South Yarra (Dec) and Peter Julian on 30th April 1955 in Toorak The family relocated from South Yarra to Fairfield in 1958 after the birth of Tony where the family home was up until the death of our Father on the 9th November, 1985. As siblings we all attended St Anthony's Catholic School in Alphington We lost our Mother early 1971 when Tony was age 13. Tony was not very good at school, wagging school whilst Dad was at work. I was away with National Service training between July 1971 and January 1973. After Tony left school at the age of 15, he managed to get some casual work at a construction company, Tony remained in the family home when all the other siblings had relocated, with Dad up until late 1985 when Dad passed-away, after which the family home was sold, Tony hang around the Northern Suburbs i.e Reservoir until he purchased a small property in Merrigum (consisting of a former Dairy Shed, converted into a 3 room house) on 06/03/1992; he remained there with his 3 No. small dogs up until 30/10/2019 due to his deteriorating health and living conditions, was able through the Housing Commission find him a lovely one (1) bedroom unit in Mooroopna up until 19/12/2022 when coming to Melbourne to stay with our brother Peter at his place in Bundoora over the Christmas / New Year period however, during that time Tony's health deteriorated further deciding to keep Tony in Metropolitan Melbourne close to St Vincent's and Northern hospitals and his GP Dr Kieran Shiels at the Aborigine Medical Centre in Fitzroy Tony's health was always of concern back in 1989 when he was granted a disabled pension, in 2005 at St Vincent's Hospital had a stint inserted and on 10/12/2018 whilst shopping in Shepparton had a major heart attack and was taken to the Bendigo Hospital and then to the Austin Hospital in Heidelberg for a triple bypass and then returned to the Bendigo Hospital then GV Health in Shepparton for rehab Over the last couple of years Tony has been in and out of hospital especially for his breathing (respiratory), last October 2023, we seen his Specialist Doctor at the Northern Hospital who informed Tony that both his heart and lungs were deteriorating and gave him approximately 12 months to live, certainly a shock to me but all Tony said to the Doctor 'That he was a fighter and will fight it'; the Doctor then arranged for the Banksia Palliative Team to be involved and make regular visits to check up on Tony's wellbeing Unfortunately Tony's last stay in hospital – Northern Hospital on 25/03/2024 whilst in the Respiratory Unit was more to do with abdominal pain to which they found a suspected stone in his gallbladder and because they could conduct surgery because of his poor health they tried antibiotics to clear the infection to no avail just made the operation of kidneys less effective (12%), Tony was subsequently moved to the Palliative Care Unit at the hospital around 2.00 pm on 08/04/2024 to make him more comfortable after being visited by his Nieces (Debbie & Amanda), he passed at 6.11 pm while I was with him – his cause of Death is being shown as 'Biliary Sepsis'! Tony was also being care for at home by Support Workers through organisations such as Villa Maria Catholic Homes (Kerry Collins) and WeCare Providers (Casey Eldib) Special thanks to Tony's NDIS coordinators (Villa Maria Catholic Homes Kerry Collins) & (Positive + Empowerment Tamara Hays) All his Support Workers, a few to mention – Di, Zoran, Connie & Vicky Tony loved his Op Shopping and going on the numinous amount of collectables that he purchased over the years was clearly visible when entering his Unit in Mooroopna; of course his purchases to him were valuable (to me just junk) but he certainly knew where every little collectable was and whilst he was away in hospital I was forced to clean his Unit up and whilst I had to move a lot of his stuff around he certainly knew that thinks had been moved around RIP Tony from your elder brother Bill

Rodney and l would like to thank everyone for being here today, and for the love and kindness you have shown to Tony throughout his life. Unfortunately we are unable to attend so I am sending this message to be read on our behalf. Memories are varied and often funny when we were young e.g. giving him a hard time when he was hung over or sharing Christmas day and eating nibbles always barbecue shapes with him at 58 Rathmines St Fairfield. Recently I shared my workplace Sea world in a Facetime video with him showing him dolphins, penguins and rollercoasters and the fun of a holiday paradise. He said he thought it was all lovely. He had some cute nicknames for me, Allior and Lady Godiva and teased me with his funny laugh that I will never forget 😢 RIP Tony gone but never forgotten🙏💔 Allison Alder