John's funeral & wake today were very well attended - Dennis O'Keeffe sang Waltzing Matilda at the service & then did far too many songs at the wake as he's only weeks past a nasty bout of chemo & radio which has really knocked him about.

He was only cleared of his cancer a day or so before John died & didn't look well, but he couldn't miss his best mate's funeral. His doctors told him it can take up to 12 months to recover from the chemo & radio, but he'll be well on the way by the time he runs the National Folk Festival Australian Songs sessions in Easter next year, & probably totally recovered by the time he appears at my folk club later in the year.

The funeral service included John Warner's poem, reminiscences by Dale, their eldest son, their young twin grandchildren and a family friend. We were led in one of his songs, & in two of his favourite songs, listened to 3 songs from his CD & watched a slide shows of his life & music. There was a lot of laughter & tears.

Doug Jenner's brother read out a message from him at the Wake.

Old & younger folkies came out of the woodwork from many states & I caught up with friends & acquaintance I normally only see at festivals. I took lots of pics, & I'll be posting some of these & pics by other folks on the Bush Music Club photo website   

I'm hoping I can get copies of some of the reminiscences to post on our blog

sandra