LOIS and Herb Morrow have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of grief after the death of their son Robert.
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The 36-year-old Warrnambool resident, known as Robbie, died in a car accident in Geelong on Saturday.
Mrs Morrow said her son was always “the life of the party”.
He was in Geelong with mates to attend a music festival when his life was cut short.
“They were going to Little Creatures to have a beer before they went to the festival,” Mrs Morrow said.
“My niece is the manager there.”
Mrs Morrow said her son’s enthusiasm for life was infectious.
“People would invite him to weddings because they knew he would get up and dance and get the party started,” she said.
Mrs Morrow said her son loved music.
“There would always be music blaring in his car,” she said with a laugh.
Attending music festivals was a favourite pastime and Robbie was known, on occasion, to sneak in without paying.
“He would always try to sneak in, get in under a fence or something,” Mrs Morrow said.
On Sunday night, the grieving couple opened their home to a handful of Robbie’s friends.
“We had a slab of beer out the back for Robbie,” Mrs Morrow said.
“We started with six and there were about 40 in the end.”
They shared their favourite memories of Robbie, who attended high school at Brauer College.
One friend said he came home one day last week to find a slab of beer on his doorstep and a note from Robbie saying he would be over to drink it at some point.
Mrs Morrow shared her memory of Robbie’s 18th birthday party.
“He didn’t do his deb but he said ‘I want to have a party’.
“He asked mates from the high school, Emmanuel College and Brauer College and there were going to be two major bands playing at the party.
“I was down the street and someone came up to me and asked ‘is it OK if my daughter comes up?’”
Mrs Morrow replied: “It’s only a little party.”
Little did she know that her son had invited “everyone he knew”.
“Robert charged everybody $2 at the gate – they were streaming in,” Mrs Morrow said.
When things got out of hand and a few partygoers began to destroy furniture, Mrs Morrow rang the police and asked for advice.
She decided to turn the hose on the partygoers, a tactic that worked.
Mrs Morrow said Robbie wasn’t fussed – he had enjoyed the night and it was about midnight.
“He was very happy because there was that much grog left here under bushes and stuff,” she said.
Robbie is survived by his parents, his brother Steven and his sisters Fiona and Susan.
He will also be sadly missed by his nieces and nephews.
“He was the king to his nieces and nephews,” Mrs Morrow said.
Mrs Morrow said friends from all over Australia and abroad were expected to attend Robbie’s funeral.
She has invited anyone who knew Robbie to attend his funeral, which is expected to be held early next week.
Mrs Morrow said her son’s friends had told her it would likely be a large gathering.
“One of his mates said ‘you should be having it at the MCG because that’s the ripple effect Robert has made on this world,” she said.
Mrs Morrow said anyone wanting to attend the funeral to farewell Robert would be “welcome with open arms”.
“The gates are open,” she said.
“I don’t care if people have to stand on the roof – this is a celebration of Robbie’s life.”