mmg.com.au

Gerry Hogan is convinced his brother Frank saved his last breath for him.

Gerry arrived at Shepparton Private Hospital on Tuesday night to keep Frank company during his final days — as the Hogan family did in shifts for a week.

Throat cancer had finally beaten Frank, and Gerry told his wife during dinner on Tuesday night he thought his brother would not make it to Wednesday.

Frank, 56, died on Tuesday.

‘‘I sat next to the great fella and I saw him breathe once, then he was gone,’’ Gerry told a full St Brendan’s Catholic Church at his brother’s funeral yesterday.

‘‘I believe he waited for me to come.’’

Francis Patrick ‘Frank’ Hogan was born on July 7, 1956, at Ballarat to Denis and Mavis (both deceased).

His family moved to Toolamba in 1966 and he picked fruit, baled hay, dug channels and sold furniture before graduating from Victoria Police’s academy in October 1976.

Frank spent his first two months as a policeman in the records office at Russell St in Melbourne.

Shepparton police Inspector Ian Bull joked the appointment could have been the worst in Victorian Police history considering Frank’s reluctance for paperwork.

Frank spent two years on the streets of Broadmeadows before moving to the Goulburn Valley in 1979.

He worked two years at Euroa before spending 15 years in Shepparton and 17 years in Tatura.

The Leading Senior Constable was posthumously awarded the National Police Service Medal yesterday.

Insp Bull said Frank was an old-fashioned policeman who sometimes defied the letter of the law to effectively and fairly fight crime.

‘‘He had fantastic morals, fantastic understanding and fantastic commitment,’’ Insp Bull said.

‘‘He had compassion, which belied his physical stature.’’

Gerry said as much in a story about Frank dealing with one accused criminal.

The accused argued in court that Frank, who Gerry said weighed about 130kg at the time, had used too much aggression in catching and arresting him.

Frank told the court he luckily fell on top of the accused and sat on him until police help arrived.

Gerry said the magistrate determined Frank handled the situation without injuring the accused and dismissed the case.

The police force, his partner Irene and Murchison Football Club were three loves of Frank’s life.

‘‘Family was his life,’’ his daughter Mandy Gladman said.

‘‘We were so proud of him and we loved him with all our hearts.’’

His grandchildren Jye, Bailey, Jesse, Finn and Jett placed life symbols, such as a Murchison Football Club jumper, a Geelong Football Club beanie and scarf, and family photos, on the casket.

‘‘He was their (his grandchildren’s) hero, but he was everyone’s hero,’’ Ms Gladman said.

Murchison Football Club awarded Frank an honorary life membership last year.

‘‘That medal is probably worth $20 or $30, but that medal meant the world to Frank,’’ Gerry said.

Frank meant the world to his family, his football club, his friends and his police colleagues.

Police colleagues past and present formed a guard of honour along Knight St as his casket left the church — gone, but at rest and always to be remembered.

Frank Hogan is survived by his partner Irene, three of his four siblings, his three daughters and five grandchildren.