Sat 11 Apr 2015 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
In a service which ran the emotional spectrum from deep sorrow through to warm laughter NZ AIDS Foundation librarian and researcher Vern Keller was farewelled this afternoon after dying of a heart attack at Easter weekend. Almost 150 family, friends and colleagues attended a funeral service conducted by celebrant, friend and ex-colleague Wayne Otter - who after reflecting on the nature of sudden death stripped down to a t-shirt and shorts in homage to Keller's habitual "summer, autumn, winter and spring" attire. Moments earlier a Maori cloak was borne into the chapel in tribute as a lament echoed through the space. Keller's casket, silhouetted against the bright afternoon light, was draped in the cloak and a small forest of healing puriri branches. He was remembered as warm, caring, funny, stalwart and intensely professional. Family members and friends spoke of his kindness, loyalty and generosity and the ways in which he had become a de facto uncle to so many children, some of who are now adults. There was laughter when it was recalled that he turned up regularly to support one of his 'nephews' playing school rugby over three years and yet still didn't pick up a single rule of the game. The support, both professional and personal, he provided to colleagues was a frequent theme. An emotional Warren Lindberg, the ground-breaking NZAF Executive Director on whose watch Keller joined the organisation twenty-four years ago, described him as "a mainstay and a stalwart of the NZAF... with an exceptional dedication and commitment to the constantly evolving HIV cause." Keller's intense sense of privacy and avoidance of crowds, his love of good food, music, Victoria Bitter and cashew nuts were manifested in items placed with his casket.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 11th April 2015 - 8:25pm