Hundreds brave weather to farewell mushroom victims Don and Gail Patterson at memorial
The emotional son of a couple who died after a mushroom lunch prepared by his ex wife has revealed his mother’s touching final message. Watch the footage.
Victoria
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The son of a couple who died of suspected mushroom poisoning at a lunch cooked by his ex-partner has broken his silence over their suspicious deaths.
Speaking publicly for the first time since his parents died after eating a beef Wellington dish cooked by his former partner Erin Patterson, Simon Patterson revealed the final message his mother shared with the family.
He could be seen wearing what appeared to be his wedding ring, a simple, gold band, on his left ring finger as he paid tribute to his late parents.
“Her final message in our family group chat was ‘lots of love to you all’,” he said at a public memorial for his parents on Thursday.
“They would always wave goodbye when they parted ways because one day it could be the final wave.
“Mum and dad taught us to have a healthy view about death.
“They knew that death was not final.”
He said his parents were “very much a team”.
“The fact they died within a day of each other is fitting and reflects the togetherness they always worked so hard for”.
Don and Gail’s other son Matt, read tributes from friends and family across the globe.
Ms Patterson cooked a fatal lunch on July 29 for Don and Gail, Gail’s sister Heather and husband Ian Wilkinson.
The group became severely ill before Gail and Ms Wilkinson died on August 4, and Don a day later on August 5.
Mr Wilkinson has remained in hospital in the month following the toxic meal, his condition slightly improving.
Ms Patterson remains the only suspect in a police investigation into the unexplained deaths.
Don and Gail were laid to rest in a private burial last week at Korumburra cemetery.
Don’s brother Colin said the couple had known each other since childhood and attended the same Sunday school and church youth groups before they “quickly became inseparable” when they started dating.
They married in 1973 and began their life together in Dromana at the Patterson holiday home.
The couple worked with generations of students at Korumburra Secondary College and also took their passion for teaching across the globe.
The Patterson’s spent seven years in Botswana while Don taught and became a popular figure among the local village, even going as far as building a TV satellite dish out of chicken wire for the community.
Don and Gail also spent time teaching English in China, with an ex-student paying tribute to her “Aussie parents” in an emotional letter she read out to mourners as it was broadcasted at the ceremony.
“You comforted me when I was down, you were my favourite teachers and precious friends,” Amy said.
Simon also recalled a trip the two shared to Iran where Don “embarked to speak to everyone in the country … from people on trains to leaders at the mosques”.
About 400 loved ones and friends filled the Korumburra Recreation Centre on Thursday afternoon to pay tribute to the “cherished” couple as a small police presence patrolled the nearby area.
A rendition of “What a friend we have in Jesus” was sung at the ceremony which ended with Bob Dylan’s “Death is not the end” as mourners offered their final prayers.
One of Don’s former Korumburra Secondary College colleagues Richard Collyer said Don’s teaching philosophy was built around relationships.
“For Don It was who you teach rather than what you teach,” Mr Collyer said.
Simon and Erin, who share two young children together, are no longer romantically involved after separating in 2021.
Ms Patterson did not attend the public memorial, instead remaining inside her Leongatha home on Thursday afternoon.
The Herald Sun is not suggesting that Ms Patterson intentionally poisoned her guests, only that police are investigating the matter.
Victoria Police is treating the deaths as unexplained, but labelled them “suspicious”.
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