Former City of Casey mayor Ron Mantel.Above: Hundreds turned out to pay their respects to Mr Mantel at the Tooradin Hall on Monday.
By Sarah Schwager and Rebecca Fraser
MOURNERS paid tribute to Tooradin icon Ron Mantel on Monday when hundreds turned out to say one last goodbye to the former City of Casey mayor.
Among those paying their respects was Mr Mantel’s loving partner Mandy Garrard, who had been with Mr Mantel for almost four years.
Ms Garrard said she had been overwhelmed with the community’s response to Mr Mantel’s death.
She said she had received phone calls from people she barely knew in tears and devastated by his sudden death.
“I don’t think he knew just how many people he had touched,” she said.
Mr Mantel died suddenly on board his boat the Tidemaster on Western Port on Monday, 18 September, his death sending shock waves through the coastal village of Tooradin.
He was 52.
While some media reports have stated that Mr Mantel died of a heart attack, Ms Garrard said an autopsy had been conducted and the family was still awaiting the Coroner’s report that would determine the cause of death.
“He was such a down-to-earth man and he worked with people on their level,” she said. “He was very devoted to me and was very thrilled to have someone in his life after all those years on his own.
“He was very homely and kind and always thought of others before himself.
“I was very proud to see all of those tributes. He has left such a mark.”
Celebrant and Mr Mantel’s cousin Marion Church described him as a truly remarkable man, and said the huge number of people at the funeral was testimony to the respect and affection held for the former mayor in Tooradin and the wider community.
“Your expressions of sympathy and your attendance here in such overwhelming numbers have given and will continue to give Ron’s family and loved ones great comfort and support,” Ms Church said.
She said even as a youngster he had thrown himself into all aspects of the local community, from the Tooradin Football Club to the busy life of the family farm, the Holland Bulb Company.
“The community will remain indebted to him and be somewhat lost without him,” she said.
Relatives in Holland said by letter that they would always remember the hospitality and warmth that surrounded them on their visits to Australia with their favourite cousin Mr Mantel, his sons Justin, Daniel and Brett, and Ms Garrard.
“It is hard to understand, when you live on the other side of the world, that a great person as Ron does not live anymore,” they wrote.
Darrel Hardy spoke of fun times with his mate and said he often referred to him as ‘The Mayor’.
Mr Hardy said that after a time he would say: “I have to inform you that I am no longer the mayor.”
“I would say ‘to me you will always be the mayor’.
“Ron’s response was usually that ‘it sounds good, you may proceed’.”
Former Casey mayor Brian Oates also spoke at the funeral and paid his respects to his former council colleague.
On behalf of Mr Mantel’s sister Leni and brothers Hans and Jack, older brother Peter Mantel read the eulogy.
“Ron was a much loved brother to us and will never be forgotten,” he said.
“We will always remember him and we will miss him.”
