Gangster Who Nursed Sick Mother, Found God And Loved A Laugh

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday February 11, 2006

Steve Waldon and Selma Milovanovic

MARIO CONDELLO led an eventful life, so it seemed fitting that its abrupt ending should produce reflections on a character of many facets.

Shot dead on Monday, Condello, 53, was remembered yesterday more as a loved family man and friend than as someone whose relationship with the law was fraught.

About 700 people packed St Ignatius Catholic Church in Richmond for his simple funeral. There was no order of service, just a small card with the message: "Do not cry for my absence, feel me close and still talk to me. I will love you from Heaven as I have loved you on Earth."

Allusions to Condello's criminal past were not blithely overlooked, but the resounding theme was about forgiving and being forgiven.

Mick Gatto said he had known Condello for 25 years, "with our friendship growing stronger every day".

He said Condello's reputation as a serious and conservative man was offset by a sense of humour well known to those closer to him.

He recalled a wedding barbecue when Condello ate an eye from a pig's head. "He then offered me the other eye and because I didn't want to offend him, I ate it," he said. But he respectfully declined when Condello moved on to other body parts including the pig's intestines.

Gatto said that despite public perceptions of Condello's life, he was capable of great love and devotion. In 2004, when Condello's mother Marina was dying, "Mario was by her bedside every day ... His only concern was her comfort and wellbeing.

Gatto said farewelling Condello meant saying goodbye to "a man among men, whom I'll miss more than words can say".

Condello daughter Vanessa spoke powerfully about Condello's transformation over the past 18 months, calling it an "amazing renaissance in his life".

"Dad was touched by God, he was given a second chance ... He may have made some mistakes, taken some wrong turns, but he was always on the right path, he just took the long way."

Father Peter Norden said he met Condello in prison more than 20 years ago, and "he was not a happy man".

He observed Condello's exposure to both success and downfall, and "I began to learn some people had many different dimensions to their lives".

A crowd of about 100 gathered for the burial at the Melbourne General Cemetery mausoleum.