Thousands farewell police officer who tackled life to the fullest

1 week ago 3

Sergeant Lisa Thompson has vivid memories of the last weekend she spent with partner Neal Thompson, before he was gunned down with colleague Vadim de Waart-Hottart on a remote property in Porepunkah almost two weeks ago.

The couple spent that day tending to their hobby farm outside Wangaratta, when the man known as “Thomo” called her his “farmer’s wife”, and she told him he was the “best husband she never had”.

Sergeant Lisa Thompson during Monday’s funeral service for her partner, Neal Thompson.

Together for almost a decade after they met at Wangaratta police station, Lisa Thompson said the couple spent their final Saturday evening together cooking, drinking wine, gazing at the stars and “leaving nothing unsaid”.

On Monday, she told a congregation of more than 3000 mourners at the Victoria Police Academy in Glen Waverley that Thompson had shown her and his step-children “how brilliant life is, if you have the courage to try”.

“He taught me how to love without fear and how to be brave when I’m scared. I am so grateful you did because I am scared. I don’t want to live this life without you and I don’t want to finish our dreams on my own,” she said.

“But I will, I promise. I will be brave. I will love you. I will honour you and I will cherish every moment I spent with you.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Jacinta Allan sat at the front of the packed chapel and listened to tributes from Lois Kirk and Diane Thompson, the sisters of the slain detective.

Kirk described her brother as the family’s hero and protector.

“One of the proudest days for Mum and Dad was when you graduated from the academy,” she said.

“You were their golden boy who could do no wrong ... the stories you told us about your job were harrowing and eye-opening in equal measures.”

Growing up near Bendigo in the 1970s, they recalled an adventurous and mischievous kid, who spent hours hunting animals and reptiles in the surrounding bush, or riding bikes with his mates.

Fellow police officer Jason Williams, a friend of 25 years, said a love of hunting and fishing was a constant theme in Thompson’s life.

The pair went on several adventures to Victoria’s High Country, Cape York in Queensland’s far north and the remote Kimberley region in Western Australia.

Williams said his best mate had a “Steve Irwin gene” and a nonchalant attitude towards personal safety, which often made him wonder if he needed to have a eulogy on standby.

Thompson was accidentally shot while hunting rabbits in his youth, overcame cancer and survived 17 car collisions and a stabbing while serving as a police officer.

“To be honest, I started writing this [eulogy] about 20 years ago on our first trip to the Top End, when he started walking in bare feet through long grass looking for a brown snake, or dragging six-foot sharks onto a 12-foot boat, or jumping waist deep into waters inhabited by crocodiles,” Williams said.

“But anyone who fished, hunted or climbed rocks with Thomo will tell you that he took more enjoyment watching one of his friends or their kids catching a fish, climbing a rock or shooting a deer than doing it himself.”

Thompson graduated from the police academy in 1988 and started his career at Collingwood police station, before stints with the Melbourne crime investigation unit and the fraud squad. He relocated to Wangaratta in 2007, where he was based with the crime investigation unit.

Neal Thompson’s family and friends watch as his casket is put in a hearse.

The 59-year-old was due to retire last Friday and had planned to travel throughout South America with his partner.

Victoria’s new police chief commissioner, Mike Bush, described Thompson as a cherished and respected member of the state’s police family; a “fisherman, a hunter, a provider and a sharer and the sort of person that people rallied around”.

“I did not have the privilege of working with or knowing Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson,” Bush said.

“But I have spoken to many who did have that pleasure, and they have relayed many stories. Without a doubt, Neal was a highly respected, highly regarded, very capable, very experienced police officer and member of the Victoria Police.”

Police officers salute as the hearse carrying Thompson’s casket drives past.

Friend and colleague Paul Campbell said his longtime friend had an aura of “invincibility” and was respected by police, legal staff and offenders alike.

“He worked until the very end,” Campbell said.

“There was no ease-up or time off, always first through the door with a purpose. He would do anything for his crew, and was loyal to a fault.”

Just after 1pm on Monday, thousands of officers formed an honour guard that stretched more than a kilometre along View Mount Road. Each officer saluted as a hearse containing Thompson’s casket passed, while a police helicopter hovered above.

Thompson’s ashes will be spread at an unidentified site near his farm, where he recently said goodbye to his beloved German wirehaired pointer Jimmy.

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