Kings Cross “icon” Aunty Rosie Whittaker has been farewelled at a memorial service in Sydney.
A member of the stolen generation, the local personality died in December aged 61, having become renowned as a friend up and down the inner-city strip.
She was farewelled on Sunday in a public memorial service at Wayside Chapel, where she was a regular over the years.
Actor David Wenham and local state MP Alex Greenwich were among the speakers at the service.
Earlier in January, Wenham said he thought “Rosie was going to outlive us all”.
“Rosie undoubtedly was the most famous resident of Potts Point of the past two decades. Rosie often made me laugh, she sometimes puzzled me, sometimes made me cry and always made me think.
“Everyone has a Rosie story.”
Mr Greenwich later said the service was “moving, inspiring, educational, sad and a celebration of an icon”.
“Thank you Aunty Rosie,” he said on Twitter.
“The Cross misses you, and will never forget you.”
Others in the community have recalled her as the essence of friendliness and of community.
“She called people brother,” one person said on Wayside’s memorial page.
Another person recalled Rosie being “kind, cheeky, thoughtful, sassy and funny”.
“Her eyes were wise but sad. I’ve known Rosie since I moved to Potts Point 10 years ago. Like so many of us, I gave her money, food, cigarettes … and she gave us wisdom and humour and great hugs,” she said.
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