The Main Chapel at Chevalier College in the Southern Highlands was overflowing with mourners on January 21.
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Hundreds of people gathered in marquees, in the church and courtyard to celebrate the life of Graeme Spackman.
His friends and family remembered him as ‘one of the best sportsmen in Australia.’
Mr Spackman passed away on Tuesday, January 10 at age 73 after a short battle with cancer.
Mourners came from across the country to farewell Mr Spackman.
His family and friends told stories about Mr Spackman’s sporting career, including his successes in basketball, table tennis, horse training and polocrosse.
Friend of Mr Spackman, David Wood said that Mr Spackman was one of the greatest sporting talents bred in the Highlands.
“The Highlands has produced two of the greatest sportsman, they are Don Bradman and the king of all sports, Graeme Spackman,” he said.
The Chapel erupted with applause in response to the sentiment.
John Parkes, another friend of Mr Spackman, said he “didn’t have many claims to fame, but being Graeme’s friend was one of them.”
Another friend of Mr Spackman, Ken Rose said his mate was a true gentleman.
“He never said a bad word about anyone and I’ve never heard anyone say anything against him. He loved rooting for the underdog and he was always willing to help anyone who asked. He believed in young people getting the chance to prove themselves and we will all dearly miss him,” he said.
Mr Spackman’s polocrosse achievements were spoken about many times throughout the eulogy.
His friend, Lachlan Ross recalled a number of Mr Spackman’s achievements and said he was “an outstanding all-round sportsman.”
He began his polocrosse career at age 12.
“Spacky achieved an unsurpassed record as the best male rider at the Sydney Royal Show for six consecutive years,” Ross said.
His first representative polocrosse game for NSW was in 1963 when he played at the Melbourne Show.
He played again at the Melbourne show in 1970 and was triumphant.
Mr Ross said Mr Spackman represented NSW in the zone championships 11 times and played in the Australian championships six times.
Mr Spackman’s final journey was through an arch of polocrosse sticks, held up by friends, family and polocrosse players.
