Eileen Bond is expected to arrive in Perth at the weekend after the death of her former husband, high-flying tycoon Alan Bond.
The colourful personality died on Friday at Fiona Stanley Hospital, having never regained consciousness after open heart surgery on Tuesday to replace a valve and repair two others.
One of Australia's most controversial and polarising identities, the 77-year-old has been remembered with a mix of praise and disdain.
Son John said while many people saw his father as "larger than life", his children would remember a family man who tried his best.
"To us, however, he was just dad - a father who tried his best to be the best dad he could," John said.
He died before first wife Eileen could make it back to Perth from London in time to say goodbye.
"She was very sad she did not get back to see him one last time," John said.
The family also paid tribute to Bond's love for his second wife, theatre producer Diana Bliss, who died in 2012.
One of Australia's richest men in the 1980s, Bond became a national hero when he bankrolled Australia II's triumph in the America's Cup in 1983.
But the former Australian of the Year fell from grace less than a decade later when he declared bankruptcy in 1992.
The corporate crook was jailed in 1997 for a $1.2 billion fraud involving his takeover of Bell Resources and was stripped of his Order of Australia.
After his release in 2000, he recovered quickly. In 2008, BRW magazine estimated his wealth at $265 million.
Treasurer Joe Hockey says Bond caused "reputational damage" to Australia.
"Frankly, he left a number of positive legacies but there were a lot of tears along the way," he told Radio 2GB.
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