Celebrating the Life of Father Gerard Dowling OAM DE
By: James MacLeod – Managing Director, Tobin Brothers Funerals
Fr Gerard Dowling OAM DE (1932-2023)
Fr Gerard was a close friend of Tobin Brothers, a tremendous writer, radio host, qualified counsellor and a Catholic Priest to the Archdiocese for 65 years. On Sunday 26th November 2023 aged 91, Fr Gerard peacefully died.
The Family Counsellor
Fr Gerard’s radio program The Family Counsellor which can be heard between 10pm and midnight each and every Sunday night on RSN (formerly 3UZ) in September this year celebrated 50 years of being on air with Fr Gerard as it’s host.
The Family Counsellor program was the first of its kind in Australia and provided a great deal of comfort to so many people. Fr Gerard was a cleric to all, the saint, the sinner, the rich, the poor, he would talk to anyone. He was engaging, caring, attentive and genuinely interested in people’s stories. Fr Gerard was a wonderful person to sit down and talk to. He had a wonderful knowledge particularly on world history and theology. There was only one thing he was far more knowledgeable about and that was his beloved North Melbourne Football Club where he was the Club’s historian both official and unofficial for decades.
"...so often these days we ring a number and we get a prepared message...and you are desperate for someone to talk to you as you are..."
A Priest leaves his legacy...
In his capacity as a Priest he was one of those outstanding clerics to work with. Over the journey the team at Tobin Brothers has cared for countless families with Fr Gerard. Fr Gerard was often called upon by listeners of his program to care for families funerals, players, officials and supporters of the North Melbourne Football Club. It didn’t matter to Fr Gerard if you were Catholic or otherwise he would always care for that person seeking assistance with a loved one’s funeral in their absolute time of need.
Fr Gerard leaves a wonderful legacy behind. We at Tobin Brothers were grateful to have the priviledge to journey with him. We are certainly grateful as I know Fr Gerard was to support his program, The Family Counsellor over the last 13 years.
Fr Gerard celebrated many personal milestones in recent times, his 90th (and 91st birthday), his 65 years since Ordination as a Priest of the Archdiocese of Melbourne but I know how delighted he was to achieve that final milestone of 50 years of being on air and being a service to the wider community as The Family Counsellor.
In 2015 Tobin Brothers were honoured to have Fr Gerard chat to Michael Lynch about his life, the success of his radio program, surviving cancer, and dealing with death:
In June 2018, Fr Gerard shared his personal story and life experiences on air with Laura Turner for Great Australian Lives:
Next week, on Thursday 7th December, Fr Gerard’s life will be celebrated.
I can tell you Fr Gerard had much input to his final farewell and it will be both a true and fitting celebration of this great man’s life. In the meantime, we have a Tribute Page on our website in his honour where you can leave your messages.
From all of us at Tobin Brothers, Fr Gerard to your extended family, bless you all.
"Fr Gerard was born on 30 August 1932. His twin sister Mary was born the day prior on 29 August 1932. Mary died on 23rd January 2019 aged 86. Fr Gerard misses his twin sister very much.
To celebrate Fr Gerard’s 90th birthday, I invited him to a meal, which he thought it was just the two of us catching up.
However, I had invited a few others to assist him in celebrating this significant occasion. His fellow Priest, Fr Kevin Dillon and those that have worked alongside him on the Family Counsellor over the years; Craig Willis, Shawn Cosgrove, and his current producer Phil Touzel.
As Fr Gerard is the official historian for the North Melbourne Football Club, it made sense that Ron Joseph and Donald McDonald would join us along with those from Tobin Brothers, Michael Tobin, Cathy Tobin, Donna Jenkins, Michael and Kate Lynch and myself.
It was a wonderful celebration and everyone gathered in the room was so grateful that they had the opportunity to journey with this great man be it through the Church, radio, North Melbourne Football Club, or the team from Tobin Brothers that have worked with him for such a long period of time and sponsor the Family Counsellor show.
Father Gerard is certainly one of the pioneers in Australia in counselling with the Family Counsellor appearing well before 24 chat lines or phone counselling services became prominent.
His program gave people permission to call up and talk about their problems, gain assistance and as Fr Gerard said himself being there, not having all the answers, just the presence of a person is very important.
We should all be grateful as in a sense the wider community owe Fr Gerard a great deal."
