Moving funeral service for Josh Maddern follows tragic Avoca crash
Josh Maddern’s family shared laughter and tears in a moving funeral service held in memory of their beloved son, father, brother and friend.
Bundaberg
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About 50 loved ones filled Generation Funerals’ Rose Chapel on February 26 for a moving farewell to Josh Maddern, the son, father, brother and friend lost in a tragic motorcycle crash on February 14, 2024.
Josh’s sister, Christine, told how the self-described baby of the family worked a series of jobs, including on a Central Queensland cattle station for a short time before returning home to Bundaberg.
“I think he got a little too homesick and returned home to his mama,” Christine said.
“Because I’m sure everyone knows that mama’s boys are like that.”
Eventually, Josh started working for the Bundaberg Regional Council, first at the dump and then on the garbage trucks alongside his father, Wally.
Wally drew laughter from the crowd when he told of how, when they would have a smoke at the end of a shift, Josh would ask him how many bins he had picked up that day.
“And I would say, ‘oh, just over 1000, what did you do?” Wally said.
“‘I did nearly 1100,’ Josh would reply.
“’I thought you’d say that Josh, but I done 500’; he never got to look at my sheets.”
Josh’s mother, Lorelle, said she and Josh’s wife, Amelia, would often marvel at how Wally and Josh would continue their banter over the phone after a long day working together.
“We used to laugh because you guys would come home, and one of them would ring the other and they would be on the phone for an hour and half talking about work,” Lorelle said.
Lorelle went on to describe how as a child Josh would often say to her “I was a mistake, you never planned to have me”, to which Lorelle would say “God gave you to us, you were our miracle boy”, which became a running joke in the family.
Choking back tears, Lorelle gave a moving entreaty to those assembled in the chapel to hold their loved ones close, for fear that they be lost to them too soon, as she had lost her “miracle boy”.
“I want to say to all of you, we just never expected this to happen,” Lorelle said.
“So love your loved ones, hold them close ... because life is so short.
“Hold them tight because none of us ever know how much time we have.
“And we know that from losing our son.”
Christine echoed Lorelle’s sentiments at the conclusion of her speech.
“The hardest part is knowing that our family chain is broken forever,” she said.
Amelia described falling in love with Josh the first time they met at her home.
“He rocked up on my doorstep ... and looked at me with his trademark grin and piercing eyes, whilst holding a Neapolitan roll cake,” she said.
“He came in and we chatted like we had known each other forever.
“The instant connection I felt with this intense man was terrifying ... but Josh didn’t let me run away, he felt it too.
“Josh made me a better, stronger person ... I will love him to the day I die, and then forever afterwards.”
After a slideshow of photos, accompanied by Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire and If today was your last day by Nickelback, Josh’s loved ones paid their final respects and filed quietly out of the chapel to conclude the touching ceremony.
NewsMail offers our condolences to Josh Maddern’s family and friends.
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