Homeless man Miller Patane - at centre of touching wedding day gesture - dies

He was remembered for his "sometimes brilliant, sometimes not" poetry, his love of The Pink Panther and his ability, again and again, to show up anywhere, even on the front page of the Herald as the unexpected recipient of a slice of wedding cake in a photo that touched people's hearts worldwide.

Miller Strauss Patane — who died this month and was farewelled at a small and moving tangi on Thursday — once told the Herald that, as a homeless man, not many passersby were kind to him.

An exception had been the gesture by newlyweds Bronia Tindall and Fabrizio Clementi, who gave him a slice of their wedding cake in January last year while he was sitting on the grass outside Remuera's The Community of St Luke Church.

A photo of the moment, which brought Patane to tears, went viral and was featured on the front page of the Herald.

Ray Reti, the father of Whangārei MP Shane Reti, speaks at the tangi of his nephew, Miller Patane. Photo / Michael Craig

Patane, homeless for 33 years before his death of a heart attack aged 58, told the Herald last year he hoped the kindness of the couple, who now live in Italy but sent Patane's family their condolences, would inspire others.

"Don't judge people, because every man has a story."

Eight days after his death, those closest to Patane, including the parents of his cousin, Whangārei MP Shane Reti, gathered to honour his story in the chapel of the Lagoon View Funeral Home in Panmure.

They began by carefully draping the family korowai over his coffin and placing a framed etching of the Hamilton Temple — Patane's family is Mormon — at one end.

Then, they shared their stories of the man named by his trumpet-playing father for two musicians, bandleader Glenn Miller and Austrian composer Johann Strauss.

Ray Reti, the father of Whangārei MP Shane Reti, speaks at the tangi of his nephew, Miller Patane. Photo / Michael Craig

Ana Pickering shared a tribute from James Liston Hostel manager Charlotte Ama, who couldn't attend the funeral.

Ama had known Patane for more than 14 years, including the last three at the hostel he called home on and off.

"Miller was skilful in day-to-day living — something to eat, something to drink and something to smoke, and of course something bad like alcohol or drugs, and somewhere to sleep most of the time.

"People might say these things defined Miller but they didn't. Miller had survival skills long embedded in him before he became homeless."

Many of the 40 or so people at Thursday's service laughed in recognition at Ama's memories of seeing Auckland-based Patane far from home.

"One time I was in Wellington and who's there? Miller. One time I was in Hamilton and who's there? Miller.

"Who else can make the front page of the New Zealand Herald, and a wedding?"

Miller Patane tries Bronia Tindall and Fabrizio Clementi's cake. Photo / Steve May one2one Photography

Bronia Tindall, who is originally from New Zealand, told the Herald Patane's death was "very sad news".

"I was thinking of him just the other day and I was wondering how he was doing ... [It's] lovely to hear that his family are travelling to say goodbye."

Ama said Patane, who was raised in Otara before moving with his family to Western Samoa and the United States — where he studied My Fair Lady and Shakespeare at university and later joined the marines - before his life took a turn with addiction issues in the 1980s could be "a pain in the butt".

"But the streets won't be the same without you."

Cousin Rina Reti paid tribute to the health and social agencies that had supported Patane, representatives of which attended the funeral.

Patane had places he could call home, but usually preferred to live on the streets because his friends were there and "they always have my back", Reti said her cousin told her.

"While there were dark times, when things weren't so great for him, there were times when he just enjoyed life. I knew that was where he wanted to be ... he had to be free, no amount of residential homes and institutions could keep him."

Miller Patane, pictured at the time a photo of him receiving a newlywed couple's wedding cake went viral. File photo / Jason Oxenham

Patane's parents and one of his seven siblings have died, and his remaining immediate family all live in the US.

One brother was able to make the journey to Auckland for Thursday's funeral, and a sister — on her way to New Zealand to help return Patane's ashes to family in the US — shared the thoughts of family in a written tribute to the brother she remembered for teaching her to love American football, the music of Seals and Crofts and the actor Peter Sellers.

"My brother Miller - you were loved, you are loved, you are never forgotten, you will always be remembered in our prayers and I will love you eternally."