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RIP Luke Wood
- Thread starter Wynn
- Start date
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- Nov 26, 2007
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- 146
R.I.P 
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- Jul 30, 2010
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R.I.P. shocking news
shocking news - Joined
- Jul 7, 2009
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- 87
RIP
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- Nov 17, 2010
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this is so horrible to hear
lukes been having kidney issues for years, even wen he was back in australia and just turned IFBB pro and training at my gym it was rumoured throughout the gym how he had serious kdney issues
may he rest in peace
lukes been having kidney issues for years, even wen he was back in australia and just turned IFBB pro and training at my gym it was rumoured throughout the gym how he had serious kdney issues
may he rest in peace
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yep for about 4-5 years i beleive
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Terrible News...Condolences to family and friends. It's too bad his image was more important to him than his health! I'm sure his loved ones wish he was still here regardless of what he looked like!!
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Comments on Luke's funeral service
Borrowed from bolex:
I just wanted to post this while it was still fresh in my mind. It has been awhile since I have had much to do with bodybuilding lately and I don’t deal with death very well, so attending Luke’s funeral was not something I was looking forward to, but there was no way in the world I would miss it, so Vicki and I booked our tickets as soon as we found out the date.
I don’t believe in God. I don’t attend church except for weddings and funerals. I’m not even quite sure what religion I’m supposed to be, but I know I’m not Catholic. This was a full-on Catholic service, something I have never experienced before, but it was an experience that I will never forget. Firstly the crowd was more than I expected. I know everyone said it would be big, but I never thought it would be this big! I can only guess that there was over 1,200 people there, the place was not big enough to hold everyone, with people standing along the walls and lots of people outside unable to squeeze in. With such a large crowd it would be easy to think that it would not be a very personable but I got the feeling that every single person knew Luke better than I did. I can’t believe he knew so many people.
The funeral was held in a small suburb called Panania, I had never heard of it. Panania and the suburbs around it are what you would politely call “Working class” or those who are less polite might call it “Shit - I’m glad I don’t live here”. The church itself is not very churchy looking. In fact it is an old picture cinema that was built in the 1930’s in classic art-deco design, not really my thing. It was converted into a church but despite its drab looking appearance it has the most fabulous acoustics. In the early 1960’s, the theatre used to run live wrestling events every Thursday, something that Luke and his brother Adam would have loved had they been around in those days. Adam’s speech was amazing. I learnt lots about Luke that I didn’t know. I could have listened to Adam’s stories for ages. The one about Luke delivering pizzas was classic Luke, very funny! Tony Doherty had to follow Adam, a massive task indeed, but as usual, he did it in great style as only Tony can. I feel sorry for Tony, he always seems to get the job of representing the bodybuilding community at funerals, but I can’t think of anyone better to do it. Here’s hoping you don’t have to do it again in the near future Tony.
Last to speak was the priest. Not trying to be rude, but most times I attend funerals, the religious speeches sound kind of generic or rehearsed and can be a bit boring, but not today. This guy was awesome. I forget his name, but it turns out that he is a close friend of the Wood family and Luke had invited him to his birthday parties and I think he was going to marry Luke and Nora at their up-coming wedding, so his knowledge of Luke was very intimate and it made for a fabulous speech. It was clearly obvious that he loved Luke very much and I found myself hanging on every word. I would go as far as to say that the joke he told about the three mothers discussing what their sons do for a living was one of the funniest things I have ever heard! Simply wonderful. The way the church presented this service was something you had to be at to appreciate. Every song was sung by a choir of girls with the musical accompaniment supplied by a solo acoustic guitarist with the most beautiful white guitar I have ever seen. It took me a few songs to realise it was not a CD, the sound in the church was amazing. So many things I had not seen at a funeral before. The priests all dressed in white robes, the splashing of the holy water over the casket, the incense getting waved around, the responses from the crowd after the priest spoke, it was all very moving and absorbing, it was impossible not to get caught up in the atmosphere. As a grumpy old atheist, I always think that churches feel a bit fake or insincere, almost like they are going through the motions, like they are doing it because they have to, not because they want to, but that was not the case today. In fact, for the first time ever, I felt that maybe I was missing out on something, something pretty cool. The love and friendship was very genuine today, spiritual, I am not quite sure how to describe it, but it felt awesome to be a part of it. That thing they do when they invite you to shake hands with those around you is priceless. It makes you feel wanted and loved, even though you have never met that person before in your life.
Today Vicki and I sat with bodybuilding royalty – on our left was Mark Taylor, Mark Ryan and Grant Mayo, on our right was Phil Kabakoff, Jon Davie and Nick Jones. I don’t handle death well and I spend most of my time crying at funerals. I couldn’t look over at Tanman, I knew he was crying a lot too, and just when I thought I had things under control I could hear Grant sniffling next to me, setting me off again. Tanny told me afterwards that he was having the same problem with Jon who was sitting next to him. What a sight we must have been. At the end of the service everyone was invited down to the front to share in the bread and wine, get blessed or simply just touch the coffin. I wanted so bad to do this, but I was finding it hard to hold things together at that stage. I wanted to ask Tanny if he was going, but he had already buggered off without me. Fortunately Rhino and Grant made their way down and I just tagged along behind them. Why is something so simply so hard?
We then waited outside for Luke to be taken to the cemetery. The road was blocked off and the street was over flowing with people waiting to capture one last glimpse. The hearse was some vintage model that I could not recognise, but it was in immaculate condition and was a fitting way to finish a traditional Catholic funeral service. Whilst the family and close friends left to attend the burial, we all made our way to the local Diggers Club for the wake. We got there in time to buy a meal before the wake officially started, and despite the fact I was served the worst steak that I have ever eaten in my forty nine years on this earth, I thoroughly enjoyed sitting with my mates and chatting about the days events. The pot of beer that Ben Crowley shouted me was icy cold and really hit the spot, thanks for that Ben. Most of my day was spent with Tanny, Hairy and Meataxe, so the conversation was lively to say the least. Luckily Grumpy was there to keep us all in line.
It was great to catch up with so many people. I chatted to Tony briefly before the service; I think he was shitting himself. There was no need to worry mate, you did a great job as I expected you would. Great to see Andrei Todero and his short partner – lol. Spent some time with Luke Schembri too. You are batting way above your average with that beautiful wife of yours mate, best of luck this year in NT. I caught up with Hound Dog very briefly, as I did with many others. I know some of you will boo and hiss, but Paul and Carole were at the funeral as I knew they would be, and Carole said some really nice words to me before the service which made me feel great, thanks for that Carole. I got to catch up with Bernie and Maria, Luke’s parents, and what a wonderful couple they are. How they coped is beyond me. Hardest of all was seeing Nora. What do you say to someone who just lost her future husband?
It was soon time to head for the airport and I was hoping that the trip home would be slightly better than the nightmare trip up, but alas it wasn’t. I don’t want to add anything to this thread and spoil it; it is best left as its own thread, but getting to and from Sydney was a total fucking disaster for me and Grumpy. We missed our flight up on the Wednesday night and then I ended up getting into a minor altercation on and off the plane during the flight home. Despite this, I would do it all a hundred times again to attend what I thought was the most wonderful funeral service that I have ever attended.
For those who attended the funeral, please add your thoughts to this thread, I would love to hear them. A funeral is never a happy time, but if ever you could have a perfect funeral, this would be it. It was a fitting tribute to a guy with the biggest heart and biggest smile in Aussie bodybuilding.
R.I.P Luke.
Borrowed from bolex:
I just wanted to post this while it was still fresh in my mind. It has been awhile since I have had much to do with bodybuilding lately and I don’t deal with death very well, so attending Luke’s funeral was not something I was looking forward to, but there was no way in the world I would miss it, so Vicki and I booked our tickets as soon as we found out the date.
I don’t believe in God. I don’t attend church except for weddings and funerals. I’m not even quite sure what religion I’m supposed to be, but I know I’m not Catholic. This was a full-on Catholic service, something I have never experienced before, but it was an experience that I will never forget. Firstly the crowd was more than I expected. I know everyone said it would be big, but I never thought it would be this big! I can only guess that there was over 1,200 people there, the place was not big enough to hold everyone, with people standing along the walls and lots of people outside unable to squeeze in. With such a large crowd it would be easy to think that it would not be a very personable but I got the feeling that every single person knew Luke better than I did. I can’t believe he knew so many people.
The funeral was held in a small suburb called Panania, I had never heard of it. Panania and the suburbs around it are what you would politely call “Working class” or those who are less polite might call it “Shit - I’m glad I don’t live here”. The church itself is not very churchy looking. In fact it is an old picture cinema that was built in the 1930’s in classic art-deco design, not really my thing. It was converted into a church but despite its drab looking appearance it has the most fabulous acoustics. In the early 1960’s, the theatre used to run live wrestling events every Thursday, something that Luke and his brother Adam would have loved had they been around in those days. Adam’s speech was amazing. I learnt lots about Luke that I didn’t know. I could have listened to Adam’s stories for ages. The one about Luke delivering pizzas was classic Luke, very funny! Tony Doherty had to follow Adam, a massive task indeed, but as usual, he did it in great style as only Tony can. I feel sorry for Tony, he always seems to get the job of representing the bodybuilding community at funerals, but I can’t think of anyone better to do it. Here’s hoping you don’t have to do it again in the near future Tony.
Last to speak was the priest. Not trying to be rude, but most times I attend funerals, the religious speeches sound kind of generic or rehearsed and can be a bit boring, but not today. This guy was awesome. I forget his name, but it turns out that he is a close friend of the Wood family and Luke had invited him to his birthday parties and I think he was going to marry Luke and Nora at their up-coming wedding, so his knowledge of Luke was very intimate and it made for a fabulous speech. It was clearly obvious that he loved Luke very much and I found myself hanging on every word. I would go as far as to say that the joke he told about the three mothers discussing what their sons do for a living was one of the funniest things I have ever heard! Simply wonderful. The way the church presented this service was something you had to be at to appreciate. Every song was sung by a choir of girls with the musical accompaniment supplied by a solo acoustic guitarist with the most beautiful white guitar I have ever seen. It took me a few songs to realise it was not a CD, the sound in the church was amazing. So many things I had not seen at a funeral before. The priests all dressed in white robes, the splashing of the holy water over the casket, the incense getting waved around, the responses from the crowd after the priest spoke, it was all very moving and absorbing, it was impossible not to get caught up in the atmosphere. As a grumpy old atheist, I always think that churches feel a bit fake or insincere, almost like they are going through the motions, like they are doing it because they have to, not because they want to, but that was not the case today. In fact, for the first time ever, I felt that maybe I was missing out on something, something pretty cool. The love and friendship was very genuine today, spiritual, I am not quite sure how to describe it, but it felt awesome to be a part of it. That thing they do when they invite you to shake hands with those around you is priceless. It makes you feel wanted and loved, even though you have never met that person before in your life.
Today Vicki and I sat with bodybuilding royalty – on our left was Mark Taylor, Mark Ryan and Grant Mayo, on our right was Phil Kabakoff, Jon Davie and Nick Jones. I don’t handle death well and I spend most of my time crying at funerals. I couldn’t look over at Tanman, I knew he was crying a lot too, and just when I thought I had things under control I could hear Grant sniffling next to me, setting me off again. Tanny told me afterwards that he was having the same problem with Jon who was sitting next to him. What a sight we must have been. At the end of the service everyone was invited down to the front to share in the bread and wine, get blessed or simply just touch the coffin. I wanted so bad to do this, but I was finding it hard to hold things together at that stage. I wanted to ask Tanny if he was going, but he had already buggered off without me. Fortunately Rhino and Grant made their way down and I just tagged along behind them. Why is something so simply so hard?
We then waited outside for Luke to be taken to the cemetery. The road was blocked off and the street was over flowing with people waiting to capture one last glimpse. The hearse was some vintage model that I could not recognise, but it was in immaculate condition and was a fitting way to finish a traditional Catholic funeral service. Whilst the family and close friends left to attend the burial, we all made our way to the local Diggers Club for the wake. We got there in time to buy a meal before the wake officially started, and despite the fact I was served the worst steak that I have ever eaten in my forty nine years on this earth, I thoroughly enjoyed sitting with my mates and chatting about the days events. The pot of beer that Ben Crowley shouted me was icy cold and really hit the spot, thanks for that Ben. Most of my day was spent with Tanny, Hairy and Meataxe, so the conversation was lively to say the least. Luckily Grumpy was there to keep us all in line.
It was great to catch up with so many people. I chatted to Tony briefly before the service; I think he was shitting himself. There was no need to worry mate, you did a great job as I expected you would. Great to see Andrei Todero and his short partner – lol. Spent some time with Luke Schembri too. You are batting way above your average with that beautiful wife of yours mate, best of luck this year in NT. I caught up with Hound Dog very briefly, as I did with many others. I know some of you will boo and hiss, but Paul and Carole were at the funeral as I knew they would be, and Carole said some really nice words to me before the service which made me feel great, thanks for that Carole. I got to catch up with Bernie and Maria, Luke’s parents, and what a wonderful couple they are. How they coped is beyond me. Hardest of all was seeing Nora. What do you say to someone who just lost her future husband?
It was soon time to head for the airport and I was hoping that the trip home would be slightly better than the nightmare trip up, but alas it wasn’t. I don’t want to add anything to this thread and spoil it; it is best left as its own thread, but getting to and from Sydney was a total fucking disaster for me and Grumpy. We missed our flight up on the Wednesday night and then I ended up getting into a minor altercation on and off the plane during the flight home. Despite this, I would do it all a hundred times again to attend what I thought was the most wonderful funeral service that I have ever attended.
For those who attended the funeral, please add your thoughts to this thread, I would love to hear them. A funeral is never a happy time, but if ever you could have a perfect funeral, this would be it. It was a fitting tribute to a guy with the biggest heart and biggest smile in Aussie bodybuilding.
R.I.P Luke.
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