This is not a eulogy for Warwick Hansen, a man who would have witnessed thousands of them over 54 years in the funeral industry.
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No, we are pleased to report Mr Hansen is very much alive and well, enjoying his 73rd birthday on the Central Coast on Friday and planning overseas travel just as soon as law permits.
But he is retiring - from the funeral business in which he has become a giant in Wollongong, helping countless families through life's toughest moments.
It's a responsibility Mr Hansen feels keenly.
"Time is up - physically it's a very demanding industry to work in, but more so emotionally, when you're dealing with grieving families," he told the Mercury.
"We get one chance as funeral directors to get things right for families - it's not a matter of saying 'oops, we'll come back and try again tomorrow'. It's one take. And that, over the many, many years, gets very wearing on you as a person.
"For the families in the Illawarra, it's time for a changing of the guard. We've had succession plan in place for some time. Sue Wright is our new regional manager - a local from Bulli who's well known in the area."
He's spent the lockdown in Forster, where he lives now, and said from difficult times there have emerged benefits.
"It's been a very trying time for families, when we've had time you could only have ten at a funeral. Wollongong is a very multicultural community ... and there's a lot of big families.
"The general public were very understanding - I think everyone realised we were all in this together and to get out of it we all have to pull together. I look at the constraints we had to operate within but then I'd think about what poor families were going through.
"But I think one of the positives that's emerged from COVID is the streaming of funerals [for] people who couldn't be there."
Mr Hansen comes across as a relentless optimist, even after decades doing what must be one of the hardest jobs of all. But he admitted it does take a toll.
"To be a good funeral director you've got to be a people person," he said.
"Some people think you've got to be stoic, men don't cry, you've got to be tough. I don't know how many times I've wept at funerals. I'm probably at the worst end of the spectrum to be a funeral director because I do become emotional - controlling the emotion is very hard. But if you're a people person you can connect with families.
"It's not one size fits all. Today in Australia there's probably 100 funerals taking place. But if you ask each family, they'll tell you there's one. And to be a good funeral director you've always got to remember that."
Mr Hansen will be missed in Wollongong not just for his work but as an active member of community groups and contributions to charities over decades.
Warwick has an engaging, happy personality, not like the portrayal of an undertaker
- Ian Birch
Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery, a funeral celebrant, described his friend as "an institution".
"Warwick was very much integrated into the community in terms of his involvement with various charitable causes," he said.
"He's very good at his game, or art, can I call it that, serving the community at some of their most vulnerable times.
Ian Birch, Vietnam Veterans Association president in the Illawarra, thanked Mr Hansen for his "unwavering and dignified support to Vietnam veterans over many years".
"I am sure this is the same for many ex-service organisations," he said. "In fact Warwick was involved in the building of our memorial at Flagstaff Hill in the 1980s.
"Warwick has an engaging, happy personality, not like the portrayal of an undertaker. His presence and advice will be missed."
Fairly, death scares people. But Mr Hansen has seen enough of it to look further.
"Death is a huge upheaval of emotions," he said.
"It teaches us a lot of what life is really all about. People ask me how I'm going, I say 'good!' - I got another bonus day today."
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