Kangaroo Flat woman Analyn 'Logee' Osias mourned at church vigil

Earlier, just after 6pm as a Catholic mass got under way inside the Quarry Hill building, news broke that police had charged a 44-year-old Junortoun man they had arrested on Monday with the murder of the 46-year-old Kangaroo Flat mother.

"I guess it is for us now, who are gathered here to remember her, to continue supporting one another but most especially ... Logee's children, who have been subjected to this senseless loss of life," Father Suguitan said.

A moving rendition of Auld Langsyne was played by violinist Marie Hicks and many of those present - who came from Bendigo's Filipino, church and civic communities - lit candles before organisers invited people to speak about the woman they knew.

Ms Osias, known to many simply as "Logee", was the mother of an adult son and daughter as well as two young girls enrolled in Years 1 and 3 at St Monica's Catholic Primary School in Kangaroo Flat.

IN OTHER NEWS:

The girls were not present at Tuesday evening's memorial event but their closeness to their mother was front and centre of many mourners' minds.

Marie Hicks, who also took the microphone to remember Logee, had shared a babysitter with her, and described her as "a very dedicated mother, very selfless towards her girls".

The thing that made her heart ache, Ms Hicks said, was that the girls had already lost their father and Logee had told her they had been having nightmares about his death.

Forty-year-old Timmy Dorough, who friends said was a "loving and loyal" dad, died in March 2020 after being hit by a car on the Calder Highway at Kangaroo Flat.

The loss of their mother, now, was inexplicable to the children, Marie said.

"The hurt, the pain of the girls losing their one and only best friend!"

Roma O'Donnell, who met Logee at a Marketplace shop she worked at in 2014, said her friend had been "like a sister" to her and "a second mother" to her daughter.

"She's the strongest person I've known because she'd do everything for her kids and she prioritised her kids," Ms O'Donnell said.

Logee also loved walking, nature and cooking and was "a beautiful soul" who "just loved everyone", she said.

When people came to her house she made sure they were fed, and always wanted her guests to take the leftovers home.

Bendigo Filipino Foundation president Maria Gillies, who organised and hosted the memorial event, held back sobs when she spoke of her own last memory of Logee, on a camping trip just last month.

"The two kids ... were so happy to spend time with us, in the camp mostly," she said.

"That is my greatest memory - the happy girls, the smiling Logee with the kids."

Ms Gillies said family violence was a particular issue for the Filipino community, and as a leader within it she felt in some ways as if the tragedy had happened "on [her] watch".

Family violence prevention advocate Melba Marginson, who had travelled from Melbourne to attend the vigil, told the small crowd Logee was the 51st or 52nd Filipina woman to have been lost to family violence in Australia since 1987.

"It is so important that we know when family violence is happening," Ms Marginson, the chairperson of organisation Silent Witness Network, said, switching in and out of Filipino language Tagalog.

"The problem is sometimes we worry but we don't talk about it. And then sometimes there's shame, there's an embarrassment, a shyness," she said.

"We need to be more vigilant, more outspoken."

There was also a need for men to get involved and take responsibility for family violence occurring.

"We need champions amongst them," she said

Ms Marginson said she hoped Logee's death would not go "unanswered".

"I really hope that some of you will pick up the pieces and start organising support groups," she said.

The message about the need for change was echoed by Councillor Andrea Metcalfe on behalf of the local government.

"I will say as mayor of the City of Greater Bendigo and we've got the Deputy Mayor and Cr David Fagg here as well, we mark the 16 days [of Activism against Gender-Based Violence] for respect because of the fact that we don't want to see violence in our community and violence towards our women," she said.

"And I think that's why people are here today - to say: 'It's not good enough' and that 'We stand with you and we'll be there to support you as well'."

Among those present at the vigil was Philippines Deputy Consul Ralph Abarquez, who offered his condolences to the local Filipino community.

MORE NEWS:

Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with the Bendigo Advertiser app. Click here to download.