5 April, 1921 – 17 September, 2020
August Sirkel was an active member of the Estonian House and the Estonian Society in Melbourne. August, being a spirited singer, was a member of the Melbourne Estonian Men’s Choir. He was famous for baking traditional Estonian meat pies (pirukad) for the weekly choir rehearsals, and for many years he was in charge of cooking delicious meals for all Estonian events, for hundreds of people, at no charge. It was simply August’s way of contributing to the Estonian community, and bringing people together.
But August donated more than his time, work, artistic and cooking talents; he also regularly made donations. August spent his latter years at his home’s peaceful environment. His door always remained open, his invitation was always in the air, he loved people gather round and have a good time. This was the aspect of August’s character that was most unique in my eyes – the way August fit in with the young. His calm, happy, joyful ways made his home a place to call home for many Estonians whilst in Australia.
August has written his memoirs, and he has written about his life philosophy – had a strong belief in good will, positive thinking, healthy living, clean environment and making people happy. August was the best advocate for this motto. Happy to have known you, August, RIP.
The Funeral will be held on Thursday 24 September, Thursday 24 September, 2020 at 10.30am as PRIVATE family service and will be LIVE STREAMED. Details can be found here: https://botanical.etributes.com.au/etributes/august-sirkel
Sirje Jogi
President of Council of Estonian Societies in Australia)