Sylvia da Costa-Roque, former Courier-Mail journalist, dies aged 84

Former Courier-Mail journalist Sylvia da Costa-Roque, who covered some of the biggest stories of her day, has been remembered as “stylish, smart” and a presence in the newsroom.

Sylvia da Costa-Roque (right) with her daughter Carol da Costa-Roque. Picture: Supplied

Former Courier-Mail journalist of more than 40 years, Sylvia da Costa-Roque, was farewelled at St John’s Cathedral on Monday.

Described by long-term colleagues as “stylish, smart” and “a presence in the newsroom”, Ms da Costa-Roque died on May 23. She was 84.

For her only child, the grief is particularly palpable because Carol da Costa-Roque, 63, lost her companion Richard Shepherd two days earlier, also in the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

“I am devastated to have lost the two most important people in my life,” she said.

Born in Essex in England, Ms da Costa-Roque began as a cadet in 1952 when she was just 16.

She worked for The Courier-Mail and Sunday Mail, with a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, until the early 1990s.

Gold Walkley-winning journalist Phil Dickie took to social media to praise his former colleague.

Mr Dickie, whose investigative work led to the Fitzgerald Inquiry in the 1980s, said he had “great memories of her” and she was “a presence in the newsroom”.

Travel writer Liz Johnston said: “Sylvia was a one-off, stylish, smart, a survivor”.

In 1989 Ms da Costa-Roque covered the wedding of the late Sir Llew Edwards and the then Jane Brumfield, interviewed best-selling Welsh author Ken Follett, revealed life after politics for lord mayor Clem Jones, and sailed on business tycoon Alan Bond’s super schooner.

Ms da Costa-Roque was also a founding member of the first Zonta Club in Queensland, and a former president and life member of the Queensland Wine Press Club, which described her as “a warm and witty, wise woman”.

Ms da Costa-Roque, of Yeronga, is also survived by partner James Cassells.