Final farewell to Jim Percy

Final farewell to Jim Percy

SYDNEY — Though it was a sad occasion, there was still a hopeful spirit among the large crowd of comrades, friends and associates who gathered at Woronora cemetery on Saturday, October 17, to bid a final farewell to Jim Percy, the national president of the Democratic Socialist Party, who lost a courageous battle against cancer the previous Monday.

At a ceremony at nearby St Johns Hall in Sutherland prior to the burial, about 200 people heard how Jim had organised his struggle against the deadly disease with the same determination and thoroughness that characterised his political work.

Those who attended the ceremony spanned the 25 years of Jim's political life and included his closest friends and many others who had worked with him in varying ways during that time.

A testimony to Jim's life was presented by his "brother, friend and comrade", John Percy, who said Jim was a man of broad interests and deep insights.

Anne O'Callaghan, who was Jim's companion in the last years of his life, spoke about the fight Jim undertook to beat cancer and about his growing concern for bringing out the more personal side of his own character.

Moving tributes were presented at the grave side by long-time friend and comrade Pat Brewer and by the national secretary of Resistance, Jorge Jorquera. Friends gathered later to share sympathies and remember their years with Jim.

From GLW issue 77