State Funerals – Planning and Conducting

State Funerals

Planning and Conducting

A State Funeral (with the casket present) or a State Memorial are offered by State governments to honour prominent people who have given long and/or outstanding service to the State or Nation.

AState Funeral is a mark of respect for public officials, prominent sports people or significant cultural figures and entertainers who have made an exceptional contribution to their community. These events provide the family, governments, institutions and general public with the opportunity to honour these people, and to mourn their loss. However, they can create a challenge for funeral directors wishing to support public grieving at the same time as honoring the wishes of the deceased, and their family.

In Australia the honour of a State Funeral has been historically reserved for senior political leaders, governors and chief justices. Senior politicians (both current and former) and people holding positions such as Governor and Chief Justice automatically qualify for a State Funeral, but since the slaying in 1992 of Dr Victor Chang and the subsequent public grief, State Funerals have been used increasingly to honour a wider variety of distinguished people.

Frank J Siebert Funeral Directors in South Australia are not alone in conducting their fair share of State Funerals and Memorials. Like several South Australian funeral directors, they have worked with the South Australian Premier’s Department on funerals for several notable South Australians, such as Dame Roma Mitchell (Australia’s first female State Governor), Des Corcoran (Former State Premier) and Vili Milisits (businessman and philanthropist).

Liaising with Government Departments to create an experience that meets the needs of the public while not compromising the family’s experience of intimate grieving can prove challenging. Vilmos Milisits was a larger than life character in Adelaide. A Hungarian refugee, he established a baking icon ‘Vili’s Bakery’ that South Australians came to love. His love for his home in Australia, and the community that embraced him and his family bakery, enabled him to use his prominence and passion to offer unwavering support to the disadvantaged people within the community.

For his significant support and donations to South Australian sporting clubs and charities, and service to the food industry, Vili was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia. Sadly, he died interstate and was transferred back to Adelaide while his wife, Rosemary, was left to pack up their temporary home and return to South Australia with her family.

Rosemary was faced with the decision of whether to accept an offer of a State Funeral / Memorial or to opt for a private funeral service. Discussing this decision with her family, and with Natasha Siebert, Rosemary was divided in making a choice.

State Funerals and Memorials can be huge and complex events

Knowing Vili was much loved by the public and deserved such an honour, she wanted to accept the opportunity. However, her family sought privacy in their grief and farewell.

Rosemary also knew that the Catholic Cathedral, with a COVID capacity of 600 people, would barely fit those closest to Vili, let alone the dignitaries, media, community groups and general public who would attend a State Funeral. Natasha provided a listening ear and offered options for Rosemary to consider, before Rosemary decided on a private funeral and a State Memorial a week later.

As a result, Vili was farewelled at an ‘invitation only’ funeral, however struggling to restrict the guest list to 600 proved a tough task for Rosemary and her family. The ‘Vili’s Bakery’ Production Facility could not close down for the funeral and the Cathedral couldn’t accommodate all the staff – but Vili treated his employees like family and they deserved to say goodbye personally. So, to allow his family of employees to say farewell, Frank J Siebert Funeral Directors took Vili to them.

At shift change, the hearse arrived at the front of the South Road property, giving all of his cherished staff the opportunity to say farewell (it took quite a while for all the staff to file past!) and to offer their sympathies to Rosemary. The staff all then formed a guard of honor down Manchester Street as Vili left their company for the last time. The private funeral was held the following day at St Francis Xavier Cathedral in Adelaide.

A week later, the State Memorial was held in the State Theatre with thousands in attendance. Despite the State Memorial being an event run by the Premier’s Department, Frank J Siebert Funeral Directors supported Rosemary’s wishes by introducing personal touches including a Memorial Donations stand.

These arrangements gave Vili’s family a choice – they could attend both the private funeral and State Memorial, or, for those who did not wish to grieve publicly, they could simply attend the Mass at the Cathedral.

Families are not obliged to accept the offer of a State Funeral. ‘Crocodile Hunter’ Steve Irwin’s family declined following his death in 2006, with his father quoted as saying he would not have wanted a State Funeral because he always thought of himself as ‘just an ordinary bloke’.

State Funerals and Memorials can be huge and complex events involving several stakeholders. Often funeral directors are dealing with multiple organisations and government departments, including the Premier's Department, City Councils, media, Church hierarchy and State Police. When faced with large extra-ordinary funeral services, Natasha Siebert has three priorities:

• Allocate two funeral directors to the funeral. The first funeral director collaborates with the Premier’s Department on event management, protocols and communication for the public event. The second funeral director works with the family to ensure that they don’t get lost in the process.

• Prepare in advance, if possible. When it became apparent that Dame Roma Mitchell’s health was failing, Frank J Siebert Funeral Directors worked extensively with the Premier’s Department and even conducted a walk-through of the hospital to determine the most effective way of transferring Dame Roma into their care without alerting the surrounding media.

• Support the family’s wishes. Find ways to ensure that their grieving process is supported. Make sure that they don’t get lost in the process of the State event.

The challenge for funeral directors when planning and conducting a State Funeral is to provide the family with an intimate grieving experience, while providing the public with the opportunity to honour someone special.

The challenge for funeral directors is to provide the family with an intimate grieving experience