Family, friends say farewell to Alan Dare, victim of deadly Wieambilla shooting
The widow of Wieambilla shooting victim Alan Dare has paid tribute to her late husband, describing why she was always so hesitant to tell others how happy they were together.
QLD News
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Son’s tribute to ‘hero’ dad
- Blaze threatens Wieambilla property
- In pictures: Tearful farewell to hero Alan Dare
“He always showed up”, that’s how Alan Dare, the good Samaritan neighbour who died during a deadly ambush in the Western Downs region last week, was remembered during a private funeral service on Friday.
Family, friends and community members – who gathered to watch Mr Dare’s funeral procession on the streets of Ipswich – said their final farewell to Al, who was affectionately known as Poppy Al or Rambo.
Dozens of classic Fords, Al’s favourite cars, followed the police-escorted hearse and safely guided Al to his resting place at the Centenary Memorial Gardens, in a heartwarming outpouring of community spirit.
‘I will always love you’ by Whitney Houston sounded as his wife Kerry, son Corey and daughter Renee were applauded down the guard of honour.
His son Corey described him as the happiest man in the world — be it at work, or with his cars or alongside his wife — Mr Dare “lit up a room”.
But it was the words of Al’s young grandson that spoke volumes “He was a very brave man and he was very strong and my best poppy ever,”
Mr Dare’s grieving widow told The Courier-Mail that Al was the kind of man who would pack his own groceries at the supermarket while sister Robynne Dare described her big brother as a “protector”.
She said that she had become so comfortable with Al after 26 years of marriage that she often sat in silence with Al, who she described as her “other half – the better half”.
“I didn’t talk to him enough, towards the end there we were so comfortable with each other that we spent a lot of time sitting and doing nothing, not talking, just sitting across the table from each other,” she said.
“I should have talked to him, listened to him.”
Mr Dare was shot dead after going to investigate a fire at the Wains Rd property at Wieambilla, where Nathaniel Train, Gareth Train and his wife Stacey Train had ambushed four police officers, killing constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold.
Asked about her fondest memory with Al, Mrs Dare said “everything was fond – there was nothing bad about Al”.
“I didn’t tell people about him and how happy we were because it felt like if I did it would break the spell,” she said.
“He was a real man, he never complained about taking the rubbish out – I got everything out of Al that I needed out of Al.
“You don’t brag about that sort of stuff, you just enjoy it for as long as you can.”
Mrs Dare said Al was loved by everyone but “no one knew him like I did”.
“When we used to go to Woolies at Chinchilla (the workers) would just smile at him, those women would grin from ear to ear and say ‘he’s my favourite customer’,” Mrs Dare said.
“He would pack his own shopping straight into the trolley, he just wanted to make everything easier.”
Mrs Dare said she saw a different side to Al when they moved to Wieambilla three years ago.
“We once we got out to (Wieambilla) everything changed. (Al) was just free. He was free to be whoever he wanted to be. No one could see him and nobody mattered. It was just us,” she said.
“He loved to play in the mud.
“He was shy … but I brought him out of his shell. I was the bulldog and he calmed me down but at times he still used me as his bulldog,
“Everyone loved Al but they knew that if there was a problem it was Kerry everyone needed to be worried about.
“Al wasn’t raised the same way I was – my family were in the Royal Air Force and Al’s family were in the army – (Al) ended up saying to me if you want a hug, you’ve got to come and get it.”’
Mrs Dare was just 10 years old when she first met Al, her best friend, Robynne Dare’s brother.
“I was best friends with Al’s sister in school but in 1981 both our parents bought their own homes at Leichhardt, we were four blocks away from each other,” she said.
“I was playing at Robynne’s house, Al had just turned 17 and offered to drive me home, we didn’t meet up again until after I had my kids,
“I didn’t get Al till he was thirty – I don’t remember his lapping days (when Al would do laps of Ipswich with his friends), his meatworks days, his dorky brother days or when he would work on cars with his brother.”
Asked about Al’s love for classic Ford cars, Mrs Dare said “my dad was a Holden man and I married a Ford man … I don’t even like cars”.
She said Al built a Ford Falcon XC GS 351 V8 ute from the “ground up” which they later used as their wedding car in 1996.
“I thought it was going to take a couple of weeks … it took nine months … it was the first and only time he had ever rebuilt a V8 on his own,” she said.
Asked about the posthumous Queensland Police Bravery Medal that will be given to the family in the new year, Mrs Dare said the award is also for Al’s late father who had served in the army and passed away in July this year.
“(Our family) feel guilty because during the three years we were building that place, they felt like Al didn’t want them to come out until it was all finished – we were about to invite everyone out to enjoy and show off what he had done but Al never got around to it,” she said.
“Everyone just thought Al would be around forever to look after mum – I’m going to try and stay there at the property for as long as I can.”
Daughter Renee Richards described her father as a “big man that did little things”.
“Guys like him … they don’t show off, they show up”.
Sister Robynne Dare told The Courier-Mail that her big brother was the “quiet type” but as he got older he “came out of his shell”.
“You just had to meet Al to know he was one of a kind.”
Robynne said her big brother would have gone to help his neighbours even if Kerry had pleaded for him to stay.
“He is just that sort of person – what he did was brave but in my heart I wish he hadn’t of gone,” she said.
“There is a lot of things I wish I said to my brother especially when we lost my dad in July – Christmas is going to be hell for us this year.”
The powerplay that makes Katter Qld’s kingmakers
One of Australia’s most stable and unified minor parties has showed its hand with a calculated declaration that could decide who becomes the next premier.
Top Qld uni falls to eight-year low in global rankings
One of Queensland’s top universities has taken a major slide down the global rankings, while none of our other institutions made the top 200.