Domenico Amuso, who was found dead in his car, has been laid to rest

An elderly man found dead in his car outside a men’s shelter has been laid to rest, with a friend describing him as a dreamer and romantic at heart.

Domenico Amuso died on Whitmore Square outside a Vinnies men’s shelter in June. Picture: Facebook/Julian Evans

A man found dead in his car outside a men’s shelter in the Adelaide CBD has been remembered as a dreamer and a romantic at heart with a wide range of interests.

Domenico Amuso was born in Calabria on August 1, 1947, moving to Adelaide with his family when he was 12.

He died, aged 76, on June 29 in his car parked on Whitmore Square, outside a men’s shelter where he had been known to stay over recent years.

Funeral for Domenico Amuso who died outside Vinnies in Whitmore Square. Picture: Tom Huntley

Mr Amuso’s friend Julian Evans, who tragically found him, said he had spoken with Mr Amuso “every day for at least 10 years”.

“We used to talk and laugh and have a good time, basically,” Mr Evans said.

“I saw him probably about five days a week.

“I would come down (to see him), particularly when he was homeless over the last five years.”

Mr Amuso’s life was commemorated in a funeral service at the Mater Christi Catholic Church on Grange Rd, Seaton, on Tuesday.

A father of three, Mr Amuso in his younger years worked at his family’s service station on Tapleys Hill Rd.

He also harvested vegetables and supplied them to the Adelaide Central Market, trained trotters and was a speedcar driver at Rowley Park Speedway.

Mr Evans said Mr Amuso, whose casket was draped in an Italian flag and adorned with a horseshoe wreath, was a “man of dreams”.

“He was just a good man; tried to please everyone,” he said. “He tried to do things that everybody thought was impossible, but did achieve a lot in his younger years before I met him. He was very kind-hearted, had a lot of empathy, had a lot of knowledge about horses and his interests in life.”

Mr Amuso died in his Toyota LandCruiser on a night when the temperature plunged to 3C. The Advertiser initially reported that locals feared Mr Amuso had frozen to death in his car. It is understood that his cause of death has yet to be determined.