From gangs to politics - mourners unite for farewell to Dame Thea Muldoon

Pallbearers (from left) Francis Bartho, Gavin Muldoon, Sam Bartho, Dylan Williams, Michael Muldoon (obscured) and Clinton Muldoon carry the coffin of Dame Thea Muldoon. Photo / Brett Phibbs

About 150 mourners, including former National government ministers and gang leaders, attended the Auckland funeral yesterday of Dame Thea Muldoon, who died last week aged 87.

In tributes to Dame Thea, the wife of Sir Robert Muldoon, the Prime Minister from 1975 to 1984 and Tamaki MP from 1960 to 1991, her friends described her as humble, gentle, astute and determined.

Representing one of Dame Thea's favourite charities, Hospice North Shore, former TV news reader Judy Bailey said: "She may have been tiny but she was a power package."

Judy Bailey told mourners in All Saints Chapel, Meadowbank, that Sir Robert was a man who was larger than life, "and difficult to wrangle, I imagine. But Dame Thea did wrangle him - with style and grace".

It was through Sir Robert and Dame Thea that Hospice North Shore came into being on its site overlooking Lake Pupuke and Dame Thea became the founding patron.

She quietly added her mana to many organisations, and her work was recognised when she was appointed a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1993 after her husband's death. She was awarded the Queen's Service order in the 1986 New Year Honours.

A former minister in Sir Robert's government, John Banks, said Dame Thea was a gracious wife as well as a wonderful homemaker, mother and grandmother.

"She was an ambassador for everything that was good about this country."

Born Thea Dale Flyger, she came from humble beginnings in the Waikato coal mining town of Huntly and, after studying accountancy, she met Robert Muldoon in 1948 through the Junior Nationals.

They married in 1951 and had three children.

"Raised in Huntly, danced at the White House, dined at Buckingham Palace - a pretty good effort," said Mr Banks.

Hawkes Bay community advocate Denis O'Reilly and former Te Puni Kokiri policy manager Harry Tam said they came to pay respects to Dame Thea, with several other colleagues who were in gangs in the 1980s when Sir Robert challenged them to work for the good.