Revered priest and social justice campaigner Fr Bob Maguire leaves lasting legacy

Father Bob Maguire Foundation manager and former Port Fairy man Paul Brophy said it had been an honour to know his much-loved colleague and friend and it had been a life-changing and fun-filled time.

Fr Bob died this week aged 88. He was parish priest of Saints Peter and Paul's Church in South Melbourne from 1973 to 2012. He launched his foundation in 2003, as a "loud and passionate advocate for the voiceless and forgotten".

The foundation provides food relief, social inclusion, educational support and other services "so that no one is left behind".

Mr Brophy, who grew up in Port Fairy and returns to the south-west regularly, has worked for the foundation since 2017.

He said Fr Bob wasn't afraid to call things out and what you saw was what you got. "The relationship with Fr Bob has been amazing," Mr Brophy said.

"To have that opportunity to work with someone like Fr Bob who took it up to hierarchy, whether it be government, local government or the church. It's guts, it's brazen. There's so many messages that came out."

Mr Brophy said one of Fr Bob's main messages was "get on with it, don't sit there. Do it. He said 'don't just talk about it or write about it - you do it. You just bloody do it, make change and make a difference and that's got to be your philosophy on life'."

Mr Brophy said Fr Bob was funny, endearing, entertaining and loved by many across Melbourne and beyond.

Fr Bob was part of countless family milestones - officiating christenings, marriages and funerals and sometimes getting the person he was burying's name wrong.

"The crowd was supposed to be crying but they were laughing and that's the way it was," he said.

"It was a fun-filled time but his underlying message is treat everybody the same, don't go quietly and bloody well get on with it. That's what you have to do and we can do more in our communities."

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