Jim had the bigge

16,000 gather in Melbourne to mourn an adopted son

IT was a day when Melbourne came to a standstill for 45-yearold Jim Stynes, a favourite adopted son who was given the biggest s t ate f uneral in Victoria’s history.

Some 16,000 mourners gathered at St Paul’s Anglican cathedral for the ecumenical service planned by Jim and his wife Sam with Dr Ray Cleary, the Dean of St Paul’s, who l ed the emotionally charged but dignified service.

Among those attending were Jim’s father, Brian, brothers Brian and Dave, children Matisse and Tiernan, and GAA representatives, including president Christy Cooney and Paul Clarke, captain of the 1984 Dublin minor side.

Outside the cathedral, more than 5,000 Melburnians, mainly supporters of Stynes’s beloved Melbourne Demons Australian Rules club, gathered in Federation Square and nearby in the city centre, to shed tears and applaud the club legend and former president who saved the club from financial ruin.

Brian Stynes, himself an All-ireland winner with Dublin in 1995, choked back tears as he spoke about a brother who acted as a second father figure for his five siblings as they made frequent trips

‘He was a prophet and warrior poet’

between Ireland and Australia. ‘ There has never been a moment when we could not have imagined Jimmy in our lives. We adored him.

‘He leaves a six-foot-seven hole in our lives that will always be empty.

‘I tried to follow in his footsteps but they were always too big. I take some comfort that he will forever be in our hearts.’ Brian recalled how he and his siblings had grown up in Dublin in a loving, sometimes eccentric home filled with bicycles and football boots.

He said the family was devastated when their brother and son was recruited by Melbourne as an 18-yearold in 1987 and how the highlight of every week after that was lining up by the phone for their chance to talk to him, ‘because we all loved and missed him so much’.

Brian, who played two games alongside Jim for the Demons in 1992, sympathised with his widow and two children Tiernan and Matisse.

‘In the last few weeks of his life Jim asked me to look after them and this is an honour that I will take seriously.

‘My sympathies also go out to my broken- hearted parents Brian and Teresa, my brother David, and sisters Sharon, Terri-ann, and Dearbhla.

Sam spoke briefly before reading the poem Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep by Mary Elizabeth Frye.she told the congregation: ‘When I woke up, I was hoping that if I clicked my heels together three times, I would find Jim’s death was all a bad dream.

‘It’s not the case. Jim wanted me to speak today. I would not wish to avoid this responsibility. We’ve all been influenced by Jim, his gentleness and his passion for life. I was privileged to have been beside Jim during his most recent battles.

‘He made sure during this time we shared that we grew together through love.’

She added: ‘ Jim had the biggest heart of anyone.’ Film director Paul Currie, who co-founded the Reach Foundation with Stynes in 1994, spoke of his work with young people and of his battle against cancer.

The twice Victorian of the Year, one-time Melburnian of the Year, and Order of Australia medallist helped an estimated 500,000 young people in crisis through the charity.

‘Jim set up workshops in prisons and travelled to remote indigenous communities to campaign against child suicide,’ Mr Currie said.

‘He believed that education and positive role-modelling sets kids up for life.

‘He was a simple soul who always thought that other people were worse off than him.

‘He was a prophet and a warrior poet ahead of his time.’ Jim’s former Melbourne teammate and close friend Garry Lyon shared some lighter anecdotes about Jim’s frugal nature with money and spoke about their time on the coaching staff of Australia’s International Rules team when Jim managed to intercept the transmission of the Irish team’s coaching moves. ‘There’s never been anyone like Jim Stynes and there never will be.

‘Which is why we loved him and we miss him so much today.’

Stynes’s famous No. 37 shirt, boots, and medals were displayed next to his coffin draped in an Australian flag.

Following the service, father Brian and brothers Brian and Dave were