By Afraa Kori
PRECEDE: David W. Bull is not just the story of a man, but of a family – and of a legacy built on love, vision, and determination.
David spent his last few weeks in hospital, surrounded by his loved ones. He knew he wasn’t alone. On Tuesday, April 1st, 2025, he drifted off to that last sleep, knowing how much he was loved, and knowing that he had done his very best as a husband, father and father in law, grand and great grandfather and a friend to all.
Dawn Dickson, a good friend and celebrants describes David as a master storyteller, a successful business man, honest, funny and an adrenaline junkie.
“The legacy David leaves behind is a result of his sweat, determination and hard work and for that, we all admire this great, successful, self made man, “one of a kind”, our friend, David W Bull.”
David was a family man who deeply valued his wife, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, taking great pride in their achievements and close relationships.
Three generations of the Bull family make up the team, supported by full-time and part-time employees. Their daughter Melissa joined the business in 1988 and, alongside her husband Tony, continues to lead it today.
In his memoirs, David noted that he and Betsie couldn’t have achieved all that they have done without their team of dedicated staff, including family members and employees. He also talked about forming lifelong friendships with fellow funeral directors from all over Australia. Their friendship, guidance and support was always remembered with fond affection. David believed that caring for funerals and client families is a ministry, one of love and care.
An astute businessman David recognised that all good businesses or success stories have times of struggle and hardship. David and Betsie experienced all of that. And often as they survived one obstacle a bigger one was waiting around the corner. Yet, his philosophy was that challenges can be overcome, with hard work, a positive attitude and some good luck.
Once Melissa and Tony were ready to take over, David and Betsie had the opportunity to travel, visiting Holland, doing a European River Cruise, touring Europe, and attending AFDA conferences, with David also traveling to America and Hawaii to expand his funeral industry knowledge while sampling local cuisine.
After retiring, David stayed active in the Masonic Lodge, enjoyed reading, and kept an eye on the funeral industry, all while cherishing married life with Betsie.
David, driven by a vision to offer genuine, locally focused funeral services, identified a gap in the market and sought to provide compassionate, well-organised funerals with quality facilities.
In 1982, he and Betsie purchased and renovated one of Pakenham’s first brick houses at 41 Bald Hill Road to serve as their first chapel and office, with much of the work carried out by family and local tradespeople.
In 1983, the Bulls purchased the former shire offices in Drouin to renovate into a chapel and residence. The family moved to Drouin in 1984 to expand the business. By 1988, they leased a house in Cranbourne. In 1994, they built a larger chapel and residence in Pakenham after a three-year planning battle.
In the late 1990s, David received a call from a Cranbourne builder, leading to the leasing of the former Beehive Restaurant in Brunt Street. The Cranbourne chapel opened in February 1998, serving the local community. In 2010, the Drouin chapel was renovated with a new portico for shelter, with family and staff contributing to the labor.
Funeral numbers grew steadily through word of mouth, and in 1982, the business introduced a Berwick phone number to accommodate the area’s communications system. To overcome tough times, David took on part-time laboring work, and the business began advertising budget cremations, which became crucial for survival.
In 1981, David and Betsie welcomed their daughter Morelle, as they juggled the demands of a growing funeral business. With no mobile phones at the time, communication relied on pagers and landlines, often leading to delays in picking up their daughters from school or events. Despite the challenges, the family adapted, with the phrase “Who’s looking after the phone?” becoming part of daily life.
In 1981, David and Betsie Bull’s funeral business secured the coroner’s contract, which they held for nine years. As demand for their services increased, David left his job at Lysaght’s to focus entirely on the business. Betsie, who had been working shift work at ACI Fibreglass, later left her job to manage operations—taking calls, booking cemeteries and celebrants, organising flowers and funeral notices—becoming a steady and essential part of the growing enterprise.
In 1980, the Bulls expanded their reach into Pakenham by partnering with local retirees Len and Billie Clark, who became trusted agents for the business. The Clarks used their home telephone number to field inquiries, helping to build a strong rapport with the local community — a partnership that continued for several years.
By the following year, the business had further extended into Cranbourne. A telephone was installed at the home of Betsie’s sister and brother-in-law, Tina and Des, with calls redirected to the main Koo Wee Rup number.
Through a combination of hard work, community trust, and the unwavering support of Marshall’s, family and friends, the David W Bull Funeral Director brand continued to grow throughout the region.
Koo Wee Rup legal firm Marshalls & Dent played a pivotal role in the early development of David W Bull Funeral Director by providing vital office space for client viewings. The firm also leased a large garage at the rear of the property, which was fitted out to include a cool room, preparation area, coffin storage, and a space for the hearse.
The turning point came the following year when the number of funerals rose to 42, prompting the need for a dedicated funeral home. Local legal firm Marshalls & Dent, based in Koo Wee Rup, stepped in to offer office space for viewings. Additionally, a large garage at the rear of the property was rented to serve as a cool room, preparation area, coffin storage, and space for the hearse.
At the time, founder David was still employed full-time at Lysaght’s Steel Works in Hastings, where he worked as a shift foreman on rotating rosters. To accommodate funeral arrangements and services, David would often swap shifts with his co-workers.
In his first 11 months of business they managed to conduct an average of one funeral a month, supported by Mulqueen Funerals at Burwood whose premises and advice was welcomed.
In 1979, it was Betsie who planted the seed of a bold new venture — the idea to start their own funeral business. The couple didn’t have much to their name, but they calculated that a loan of $8,000 would get them started: $6,000 for a second-hand hearse and the remaining $2,000 for essential equipment such as a stretcher and cemetery gear.
They were knocked back by the ANZ bank, but a determined Betsie approached the National Bank who agreed to the loan. This marked the first steps of what would become a respected and enduring family business.
Just a year later, in March 1976, David and Betsie were married. They made their home in Koo Wee Rup, where they both took up work at the Lysaght Steel Works in Hastings. Known for their tireless work ethic, the couple threw themselves into their roles throughout the demanding years of the 1970s and ’80s. During this time, David also worked part-time alongside his father, gradually learning the ins and outs of the funeral trade that would later become his life’s calling.
In 1975, David and Betsie’s paths crossed while working at the General Motors Holden plant in Dandenong. At the time, Betsie was a young widow raising her seven-year-old daughter, Melissa. Melissa candidly recalls not being too thrilled about sharing her mum at first — but it didn’t take long for David to win her over and step comfortably into the role of dad.
The story of David is, in truth, the story of David and Betsie — a partnership built on love, vision, and determination. As the saying goes, ‘behind every great man is a great woman’, and Betsie was by his side from the very beginning.
