Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people of the Kulin Nation
Victoria
The O’Donnell Family Memorial at Melbourne Cemetery is a quietly powerful work that transforms remembrance into a shared cultural experience. The memorial’s unique, contemporary design in marble, granite and bronze, honours the O’Donnell family’s profound legacy of hospitality, generosity and care.
The memorial invites visitors to pause, reflect and engage. Its materials are timeless and tactile, offering comfort through their weight, warmth and familiarity. A simple inscription and a bronze offering of fruit and vegetables speak to the shared table, the act of welcome and the bonds formed through food and community.
Visitors have described the memorial as moving, generous and deeply contemplative. In contrast to the surrounding historical monuments, its restraint, craft and clarity add meaning not only to a family plot, but to the cemetery as a place of reflection for all.
Patricia O’Donnell bought two plots of land at Melbourne Cemetery when her sister Mietta died tragically in 2001.
For the next 17 years she talked about building a memorial to her remarkable family. Sadly, she never got around to it.
Simon O’Brien’s beautiful, classical and enduring design pays tribute to so much of what the O’Donnell and Vigano families cherished in support of hospitality, the arts, architecture, design and more. He has done an exceptional job with impeccable style.
The entire O’Donnell family would be proud.Michelle Garnaut AO
Simon O’Brien, Project Director
James Oberin, Project Architect
POD Building Co, Concrete Form Work and Tiling
Cutler and Co, Supplier of artichokes
Henderson’s Marble & Granite, Stone Supplier
W.M.Jones & Son, Monumental Stonemasons
The City Tiler, Supplier of handmade tiles
Alustain Installations, Rail Fabrication
Perrin Sculpture Foundry, Bronze Casting
Apted Engineers, Engineer