State Funeral At Greymouth On Thursday Morning

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 September 1947, Page 5

State Funeral At Greymouth On Thursday Morning

Mr O’Brien will be given a State funeral and will be buried at Karoro cemetery, Greymouth on Thursday morning. Arrangements for the funeral are being carried out by the Internal Affairs Department, and officers of this department, Messrs F. B. Stephens, Berensden and Taylor, will arrive at Greymouth this evening. It is understood that the department will establish an office in Greymouth from which they will direct the arrangements.

Solemn Requiem Mass will be celebrated at the Sacred Heart Basilica in Wellington at 11 a.m. tomorrow. After the Mass, the casket will be conveyed to Parliament Buildings, where the body will lie in state from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., at which time the funeral procession will leave from the main steps of Parliament Buildings. The procession will proceed through the Bowen street entrance to Parliament grounds, down Bunny street to Waterloo quay. A Solemn Requiem Mass will be celebrated in St Patrick’s Church, at 10 a.m. on Thursday, after which the funeral procession will leave for the Karoro cemetery. Further details of the arrangements will be announced later. Floral tributes should be delivered to Bellamy’s, funeral directors. Because of Mr O’Brien’s death, the State luncheon which was to have been held tomorrow in honour of Lprd Addison, Secretary of State for

Commonwealth Relations, has been cancelled.

The House of Representatives will meet at 2.30 p.m. that day, instead of at 3.30 p.m., as originally planned, when tributes of respect will be paid io the memory of Mr O’Brien. The House will then adjourn as a mark of respect. It is expected that the session will be adjourned until the following Tuesday. The Prime Minister and most Cabinet Ministers will attend Mr O’Brien’s funeral at Greymouth. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr S. G. Holland will probably be present. Mr Kitchingham’s Tribute “It is about 25 years since I first knew Mr O’Brien intimately, when we sat beside each other on the Greymouth Borough Council,” said the Mayor of Greymouth (Mr F. A. Kitchingham). “Throughout that period he has given of his best to Westland in one category or another; he never spared himself and pushed any proposition that he thought meritorious. Though an unswerving supporter of Labour ideals, he always kept his feet on the earth and faced up to any difficulty inherent in those ideals. Many a man and woman in Westland has cause to remember his kindly and charitable acts to them. Westland is the poorer for his passing, and tenders sincere sympathy to his widow, who, in a gentle and understanding manner, has been a steadfast and capable helpmate in his political career.”

Lord Addison’s Tribute

A Press Association message from Wellington says that the following message has been received by the Prime Minister Mr Fraser," from Lord Addison Secretary of. State for Commonwealth relations. “It was .with deep regret that I learned of the death of Mr O’Brien. May I on behalf of His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, express my condo-

ienee with you and your colleagues, and I should be grateful if you would convey to Mrs O’Brien the sympathy of Lady Addison and myself.”;

Reference to the death of Mr O’Brien, who held the office of patron to the West Coast Rugby League, was made at Wingham Park yesterday. At the interval of the main game both teams (Runanga and Christchurch) assembled in front of the stand and all patrons stood in silence as a mark of respect. The secretary, Mr T. F. McKenzie, expressed the regret of the league at the news of Mr O’Brien’s death and referred- to the willing assistance which he had always given the code.