The Funeral Service
On Sunday, 28 March 2010, Nehama Ruth Patkin was buried at the Lyndhurst Jewish Cemetery, Lyndhurst, Victoria 3975.
It was raining softly that afternoon when people showed up, it stopped raining and was overcast when her casket was taken to the grave, and started slowly raining again when the condolences were over. The weather reflected the mood, but Nehama would have wanted sunshine.
One of her best friends wrote the next day that "Nehama would have wanted sunshine, but of course she WAS the sunshine, she was the music. And now, to honour her life and our loss – the gods were having their say – even the sky was crying."
There was an indoor service inside the chapel at the cemetery, then an outdoor service at the grave site. The indoor services commenced with prayers in Hebrew by the Rabbi, a eulogy by the Rabbi, a eulogy by her son Anton Grodeck, then a final prayer in Hebrew by the Rabbi.
A recording of the indoor service is available here.