New Rotunda Opened

The formal opening of the Allan Funston rotunda took place on Wednesday 14 January following the annual Working Bee conducted by the Rotary Club of Berwick. 

 

The Rotary Club of Berwick has conducted an annual Working Bee at the Berwick Cemetery since 1964.  The Club decided to provide a lasting memorial to commemorate their 50 years of collaboration and service with the Berwick Cemetery Trust.

 

The Cemetery Trust were invited to suggest their preferred option for the memorial and they agreed that the erection of a rotunda to improve the amenity of the grounds and provide a place for reflection by family, friends and visitors would be most beneficial for the community.  Accordingly, a rotunda was erected By the Rotary Club in May 2014 and the Club members were surveyed to determine who the Rotunda should be named after.  Allan Funston was the unanimous choice.

The opening ceremony began with the Club’s Past President Bruce Shaw providing a summary of Allan Funston’s life, his contribution to the community and his many achievements

 

Born in 1922, he resided in Inglis Road in Berwick throughout his life and was a well-known dairy farmer who delivered milk throughout the area, initially using a horse and cart. He was a Charter member of the Rotary Club of Berwick and a Committee Member of the Berwick Cemetery Trust.

 

Neil Lucas from the Berwick and Harkaway Cemetery Trust then provided an insight into Allan’s activities as a Trust member.  He added that Allan had actually interviewed and selected him for a job in Berwick and therefore was responsible for him becoming a Berwick resident.   Neil advised that he lived close to the cemetery and he was able to monitor the progress made on the rotunda on a daily basis.  He commended the work done by the Cemetery Manager, Trevor Thompson and members of the Rotary Club of Berwick.

 

The Mayor of the City of Casey, Councillor Mick Morland, advised that although he had never met Allan Funston, he had been able to listen to a 48 minute interview with him that was conducted by a Berwick Secondary School student in August 1985.  This was possible through the Casey-Cardinia Corporation’s Oral Histories facility.  He congratulated all those involved in bringing this project to fruition.

 

Allan Funston’s widow was then invited to formally open the rotunda by cutting a white ribbon at its entrance and unveiling the associated plaque, which read, as follows: