‘He was larger than life’: the great-grandfather who bellowed show tunes as he died of Covid

Ralph Cordingley had three great loves - his family, golf and music. In his final months he asked for his favourite sheet music to be brought to his nursing home because he couldn't bear the songs they were singing.

Aged 85 when he died, his daughter, Deborah Clarke, is sure if it weren't for acquiring Covid-19, he'd still be alive today.

At the same time, though, it's not about that, not really.

"It's about celebrating them, not just being a statistic," Deborah says. "These people had lives."

Up until his 80s, Ralph was still playing golf with a tidy handicap of nine. Then a near-death fall meant he decided to enter aged care.

He'd been residing at a Blue Care aged facility in Caloundra, Queensland for 18 months before he caught Covid. He was so fit and healthy before then, Deborah says he'd been considering leaving the home because he didn't like the food.

She used to speak with Ralph on the phone every day. Now a grandmother herself, the wild days of her youth are far behind her. She still has purple hair, though, in homage to her enigmatic father.