Fiona Richardson's children didn't want her memorial service to be consumed by sadness.
Marcus and Catherine and dad Stephen Newnham gave former Victorian premier Steve Bracks strict instructions - Thursday's state service was to be celebratory.
"That's what Fiona wanted," Mr Bracks told the service for Australia's first family violence minister, who died from cancer, aged 50, on August 23.
"And I'm not brave enough to cross Fiona," he said to laughter from mourners.
More than 700 people including federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, Premier Daniel Andrews and former Australian of the Year Rosie Batty gathered in Melbourne for the memorial.
They flooded into the Northcote Regal Ballroom and nearby Uniting Church wearing splashes of purple, the colour of the anti-family violence campaign.
During the one-hour service, Ms Richardson was remembered as a fierce and focused Australian Labor Party organiser, a wonderful mum, wife and friend, and a defender of women.
Former state police chief commissioner Ken Lay said he cheered at news there would be a royal commission into family violence, and that Ms Richardson would be minister.
"Not many people come into this world and make such a significant difference to the lives of so many," he said.
"(She) didn't observe history, she made history, her work saved lives."
Friend and fellow state MP Jane Garrett spoke of a staunchly principled woman who offered comfort when she herself was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016.
Thursday's service opened with a welcome-to-country ceremony by Wurundjeri elder Diane Kerr, who remembered Ms Richardson as a woman who offered the Aboriginal community friendship and understanding.
"I hope she flies with Bunjil in her next journey," Ms Kerr said.
"May you soar high."
Elected to the seat of Northcote in 2006, Ms Richardson was put in charge of the nation's first dedicated family violence ministry in 2014.
She only discussed her own experience with domestic violence in 2016, revealing that she, her brothers and mother had been victims at the hand of her father.
