By Michael Newhouse
THE Keilor community and Melbourne legal fraternity was in mourning last week following the death of well-known and much-loved lawyer Concettina Millar, who died earlier this month after a long battle with breast cancer.
A former City of Keilor councillor during the late 1980s, Concettina, or Tina as she was commonly known, had been an active member of the Keilor East community since she and her husband Bruce moved their law firm from the city to its current address, in Wingara Ave, Keilor East.
Ms Millar passed away on Sunday 4 February at her home in Maribyrnong.
Up to 400 people turned out to St Joseph’s Church, Brunswick West, on Thursday to pay tribute to Ms Millar, her life and her influence.
Husband Bruce told Star there had been a vast outpouring of grief and condolence from the community.
He said the past few years had been very tough on the family and on his wife ever since she was diagnosed with breast cancer, for the second time, back in 2003.
“We thought we’d climbed over the top of that,” he said, referring to her pervious battle with cancer during the 1990s.
Kevin Nolan from the Rotary Club of Keilor, where Ms Millar had been a member since the early ’90s, said her energy and enthusiasm would be greatly missed.
“Tina was a vibrant personality; she loved life and lived it to the full,” he said.
“If ever we run a social function in Rotary, you’d try to make sure that Tina was there because she’d be the person that would make it successful.”
Ms Millar was the club’s first female president and remained active with the group until shortly before her death.
“She was just simply an extraordinarily community involved person,” said legal and Rotary colleague David Whiting, who knew Ms Millar through her membership of the Law Institute of Victoria, of which she had been president during 2000 and 2001 – the second woman to hold the position.
A member of the institute from 1995 until 2003, Ms Millar offered her expertise and experience working for the Accident Compensation Conciliation Service right up until her death.
“She was a person with a vibrant personality, a commitment to services,” Mr Whiting said.
This was a sentiment reiterated by Trevor Sinclair, chairman of the East Keilor Community Bank, where Ms Millar had served as a director since 2001.
“She was a community worker and a very good person,” Mr Nolan said, saying he was shocked to hear the news of her passing.
“We will certainly be sending our condolences to Bruce, her husband, on behalf of the branch, the staff and the board because she will be a sad loss,” he said.
Concettina Millar is survived by her husband Bruce, four children and seven grandchildren.
