The West Australian government will not hold a state funeral for controversial business tycoon Alan Bond, who died on Friday aged 77.
Bond never regained consciousness after open heart surgery at Fiona Stanley hospital on Tuesday to replace a valve and repair two others.
His first wife Eileen, who arrived in Perth on Saturday, said she was relieved to be back home with their grieving children. “I’m feeling absolutely terrible but I’m very relieved to be back in Perth,” Eileen Bond told reporters at Perth airport.
It is believed a funeral is planned for Bond on Friday. A government spokesman said there were no plans to hold a state funeral.
The Royal Perth Yacht Club, where Bond staged his 1987 defence of the America’s Cup, will mark his passing on Wednesday.
A property entrepreneur, businessman and one-time billionaire, Bond is best known for financing Australia’s 1983 America’s Cup win and spending four years in jail for Australia’s biggest corporate fraud.
The larger-than-life figure had spent three days in an induced coma after failing to recover from scheduled heart surgery. He returned to Perth from London just two weeks ago, complaining of shortness of breath.
Bond was born in London on 22 April 1938. He immigrated to Australia with his parents, Frank and Kathleen, and elder sister, Geraldine, arriving in Fremantle, WA, on 8 February 1950.
Bond is survived by Eileen, and by his sons, John and Craig, and daughter Jody.
