Final journey

By Kath Gannaway
HEALESVILLE police sergeant Tony van Gorp was farewelled with full police honours at the Victoria Police Academy last week.
His cap, the Australian flag and a wreath of red and white roses adorned his coffin.
Following the service in the imposing academy chapel, a guard of honour of his peers gave a final salute.
Among the huge police presence, which included members of force command and colleagues from Healesville and other Yarra Valley police stations, were his partner Gayle Shelley, his daughters Chantelle and Natasha, family members, representatives of Yarra Valley emergency services and other local organisations and members of the general public.
Sgt van Gorp, 37, who served as officer in charge at Healesville for the past 15 years, was found dead from a gunshot wound at Healesville Police Station on Monday night, 22 March.
There were no suspicious circumstances.
Joy Murphy, Wurundjeri elder and close friend of Sgt van Gorp, performed a welcome to country ceremony.
His older brother Fred van Gorp gave an insight in to the early life, growing up in Box Hill which led him to a career in the force.
He painted a picture of a sportsman with a particular talent for tennis, of shared fishing trips, a flair for Latin dancing and a life-long passion for the St Kilda Football Club.
Supporting the Saints became a family tradition and an enduring family bond.
He spoke of family holidays at Phillip Island and described school camps at Camp Reefton as a most rewarding and memorable part of their childhood.
“I think this led later on in Tony’s life to all his work with underprivileged children around the Healesville area attending the Lord Mayor’s Portsea Camp,” Fred van Gorp said.
Sgt van Gorp first attended the Portsea Camp as a police cadet and for the past decade organised the camps for Yarra Valley school children. “It was one of Tony’s great yearly traditions and passions to fund-raise for the camps so that no needy child would miss out,” he said.
He said his brother’s ambition to join the police force became evident from about form four at high school.
He spoke with enormous pride about Sgt van Gorp’s career and love of the job recalling an early training report in which he was described by his superintendent as ‘An extrovert member with plenty of confidence: should continue to do well’.
A trip to Holland to study the operation of the Dutch police force while he was still in training remained, he said, one of the highlights of his life.
Senior Sergeant Bob Raaymakers detailed his police history starting as a cadet at 16 and graduating from the Police Academy at Glen Waverley in 1981.
He rose through the ranks commencing duties as a detective constable at Fairfield CIB in 1986 and with the Fraud Squad before joining Lilydale CIB.
He completed his Sergeant’s course in 1991 and was promoted to Officer in Charge at Healesville in 1996.
He said the letters of appreciation in his personal file from community groups, schools and members of the public and positive comments from police management on his performance as OIC at Healesville were too numerous to read out but singled out a number of letters commending him for his organisational role during the Olympic Torch Relay in 2000.
Speaking of his own involvement with Sgt van Gorp during the events of the Black Saturday fires he said Sgt van Gorp was largely responsible for maintaining a sense of purpose and calm, not only within the community but also in his own personnel.
“Tony’s work ethic, sense of community and positive influence in very trying and difficult circumstances was a credit to him,” he said.
“His legacy to us is his pride in his community and his positive interaction with others.”
Sgt van Gorp was cremated at Lilydale Memorial Park following the service on 7 April.