The funeral parlour was packed with people
who knew and loved Debra - university
colleagues and friends and many from her
Baha’i community. It was a crowded chapel
and stiflingly hot. Greg andMalini were good
friends of Debra’s and Greg was giving the
eulogy andMalini and the Baha’i community
fromKalamunda had orchestrated a perfectly
planned, graciousandmoving service.
Asthe funeralprogrammegotunderway itwas
clear to everyone that somethingor someone
hadgoneawry-Greghadn’tarrivedandhewas
at home writing the Eulogy. The programme
was shuffled around– and around; itwas very
hot in thecrowded funeral parlour andpeople
began toget restless.Richardand Iweredown
thebackof the funeral parlour soakingup the
atmosphere of increasing discomfort as each
attempt topretend the programmewas going
according to plan was made. We began to
laugh– you know that internal incontrollable
hysteria that bubbles just below the surface in
a very blackmorbid and terribly embarrassing
situation.
Angel Malini was graciously covering for
Greg(again) when suddenly theentrancedoor
of the parlour burst open and in flewGreg –
his hair slicked back, suit coat unbuttoned
flapping out behind him on strode down the
aisle in the most dramatic way. Richard and
I stifled further uncontrollable laughter as
Gregmade it to the pulpit and began amost
dramatic sermon. He had always had the
makings of an evangelical preacher and here
he was in full flight. Debra loved Greg very
muchandweknewtheshetoowould laughing
uncontrollably in thenextworld.
RegardinghissongsforkidsandthePeacePack:
Wayback in theearly90’swhenBaha’i Special
ReligiousEducation (BSRE)was justbeginning
I chatted with Greg about writing/producing
songs thatcouldeasilybesungbychildrenand
easilytaughtbyteachers. ItwasattheSummer
school inAlbany that he calledme in to listen
tohisfirst songand itwas ‘Education’ -hehad
alsowritten ‘Attributes’ which I heard for the
first time then as well. Both of these songs
have been taught to thousands of children
in WA state schools across the entire state.
That was the beginning of around 2 years of
collaboration -mainlyme getting on his case
tomoveaheadwiththeCDbecauseourclasses
were multiplying exponentially and we were
desperate for music. In addition I asked him
to put the beautiful children’s prayer ‘These
lovelychildrenarethefingersofthehandiwork
of ThyMight and thewondrous signs of Thy
greatness.... ‘ tomusic. Whenhe completed it
of coursehisbeautifulmuse,Malini, sang it. It
isoneofthe loveliestmelodiesofaprayerthatI
haveheard. Hecompleted thePeacePackCD
called ‘ChildrenSingSongsofThePeacePack’
to his usual perfection - it was recordedwith
around 8 children with whom Greg worked
extensively to achieve his exacting standard
and many are now wonderful young adults
serving and raising their own families under
thebannerofBaha ‘u’llah . It tookseveral years
tocompletewith20 lovely songsandprayers.
The music of the PEACE PACK has been
appreciated and sung by children all over the
world.
GeorgieSounness
Oneofmy favouritequintessential
memoriesofGreg isdear
DebraBlaze-Temple’s funeral.
Hewas togive theeulogy.
