Peter Mulqueen Funeral Director
Peter was born at Sr. Kerrins Private Hospital in 1930, and attended St. Kilian’s Primary School before attending Marist Brothers College and then going to Xavier College in Melbourne. He was a sportsman and excelled in both Long Jump and High Jump. He was a talented Australian Rules Football player and played for YCW (1954 Premiership Team) and Sandhurst.
Peter who had been away studying at Xavier College in Melbourne when his father became ill, returned to Bendigo in 1948 and following John’s death in 1950 assisted his mother in operating the business.
One of the very early funerals he was to conduct was that of Bishop McCarthy who died on 18/8/1950 just a month after the death of Peter’s father John ‘Jack’. Peter, who was just 20 at the time said to Bishop Stewart “I’ll get someone from the Melbourne “Mulqueen’s” to come up to conduct the funeral of Bishop McCarthy”, Bishop Stewart would not hear of it and indicated he was quite happy for Peter to take charge of the Funeral, and he did.
Peter always said, “If I can do the Funeral of Bishop McCarthy then I can do the funeral of anyone”.
He later co-conducted the funeral of Bishop Stewart in 1988 in conjunction with his son Simon. Bishop McCarthy had been Bishop of Sandhurst for 33 Years.
Bishop McCarthy’s funeral, August 1950, Peter Mulqueen leading the coffin.
Peter continued in the business with his mother when in the mid 1960’s his brother John joined the business after some years as a builder working for Keith House. Irene suffered ill-health for many years and in about 1969 they decided to partition what was the downstairs dining room at Bridge St. and set up as a bedroom for Rene so she did not have to negotiate the stairs, over a number of years various carers were employed to take care of her, the last of them being Patricia ‘Pat’ Oliver and her 2 children Mark and Jacqui.
In the mid-sixties it was decided the business was not big enough to support all 4 families, so the business and assets were valued and Peter and John’s two sisters who were both married and living independently, were paid out for their share of the business. Peter and John continued to grow the business. Peter as Managing Partner. They purchased adjacent premises “Clarke’s Taxi Trucks” and “Reg Pinder Motors” and in 1968 started the process of building a modern Funeral Home next door to the original site.
At that time most funerals done by the company were Catholic, so an additional trading name was attached to the new premises; BENDIGO & DISTRICT FUNERAL SERVICES (This name was later deregistered in 2012).
Peter suffered from Emphysema for many years and by the 1990’s was slowing down in his role as Managing Director. In 1996 Simon was appointed General Manager to take some pressure of him. In 1997 Peter was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Victorian Funeral Industry for 50 Years’ Service to the Funeral Profession.
It was about this time Peter retired from the business in a day-to-day sense although still very much in control. Over the next two years his health grew steadily worse until on April 12th 1999 approximately 3pm and at the Age 69 Years, he passed away peacefully at Mt. Alvernia Hospital Bendigo (now St. John of God Hospital), his son Simon the last member of the family to talk to him having visited him.
Peter’s Funeral was held at The Sacred Heart Cathedral on Friday April 16th 1999 and presided over by Bishop Noel Daly, Mgr. John Duffus was essentially in Charge as Bishop Daly had been unwell. A Large Crowd attended, and the cortege passed the funeral premises in Bridge Street (Simon leading the Hearse past the Property as a sign of Respect for his many years of Service to the business.) before proceeding to the White Hills Cemetery where he was laid to rest in the Lawn Section.
(You’ll notice the Carport has been extended this was the first of Many alterations to the building over the years).
The premises were later expanded in the mid 1980 and upgraded with a completely new façade designed by Simon Mulqueen in the 1990s.
The Various Facades
Dad was responsible for the Big Sign (we all hated it – too big and ugly)
On the Next page is a remembrance of Peter’s Life written by Simon in 2019 on the 20th anniversary of Peter’s Death, it was published in the Bendigo Weekly (Later acquired by the Bendigo Advertiser)
Adele Lillian ‘Del’ MULQUEEN (nee Johnson)
Wife of Peter Mulqueen, Born 03 04 1933 at Bendigo – Died 28 05 2025 at Bendigo, Aged 92