HUMBLE FAREWELL FOR FLASHY EDELSTEN
FLAMBOYANT doctor and businessman Geoffrey Edelsten was laid to rest in a simple pine box on Wednesday — far from the extravagant and controversial life he led through decades of bizarre relationships and crazy endeavours.
About 30 mourners gathered for the traditional Jewish service in Melbourne,
where the 78 year-old died last Friday.
Friends of the former doctor and Sydney Swans owner remembered him as an enigma with a zest for life who lived it to the full.
One friend, Michael, spoke of his skill as a doctor, his passion for the Carlton Football Club and his trusting nature which was often to his detriment. Another noted the contradiction of his life from
what was seen in the media and the headlines he created through his colourful stunts and marriages. They said his hair-raising life of publicity and one shock to another was not a true representation of the individual.
David, a former school friend, described him as “quietly spoken, polite, good company, loyal, respectful and above all a warm and engaging human being”.
A friend who sent in a message to be read, added: “His personal life has been aired in many shades of bright colours.
It’s dominated so much media because of a spectacle of delectable wives but it was traumatic to his family
... he went after that exposure while living a life of extravagance.”
Despite Edelsten’s flashy life, his final months were spent as a recluse. His most recent wife Gabi Grecko — a New York based ex-stripper — made a claim on Tuesday that the pair were still married and she is now a “widow’’.