A PACKED congregation yesterday said goodbye to a man described as a "people person" loved by everyone.
Raymond Leonard Malthouse was farewelled by family, friends and football identities at Our Lady Help of Christians church in Wendouree yesterday.
Among the throng of people at the service were Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley, club president Eddie McGuire, former AFL coach and player Danny Frawley and several Collingwood players.
Remembrance and celebration of Raymond's life was the theme of the service. Laughter often rang throughout the church as Collingwood coach and son Mick Malthouse shared memories of growing up in Ballarat with his father.
Among the many things Raymond would be remembered for was his patience, resilience and love for his family, Mick said.
"The most common thread people have said is that he was a good man," he said.
"He didn't have the easiest of upbringings but he never complained. I never once heard him say he didn't enjoy his life.
"He was hell-bent on staying here until he succumbed to his illness and (his wife) Marie ... in sickness and in health she has been a tower of strength especially when he was struck down by a virus that paralysed him."
Among the hardships were also the fun times.
Raymond's brothers taught him plastering, he worked for the Victorian railways shoveling coal, took up boxing, loved his footy, fishing, family and tinkering with an array of cars.
"Wherever we went fishing people used to fish near us and they always used to catch the fish and I remember we always used to go back to the Burrumbeet Hotel and and was told "don't tell mum"; and for a lemonade I was more
than happy not to," Mick said.
Channel 10 sports reporter Christi Malthouse paid tribute to her grandfather with a poem.
"In your chair with a beer in one hand, you loved to watch the footy cheering the best coach in the land ... never was there a bigger fan of the Pies, Eagles, Bulldogs, Tigers and Saints," she said.
Raymond died on Monday at the Gandarra Palliative Care Unit aged 77.