LAST FAREWELL TO OUR BELOVED BROTHER BANDIDO GUNTHER1%ER
In particular, when you feel so closely connected in a community like the Bandidos MC´s Brotherhood, it hurts all the more when you have to say goodbye because one of our ranks is leaving for the Forever Chapter. However, it is these Brothers who show us what we have in each other and what this Club means to us.
On Tuesday, April 4th, we paid our last respects to our Brother Bandido Gunther1%er from Chapter Meran, who served as El Secretario for several years. Although the funeral fell on a weekday and was scheduled at very short notice, Gunther1%er’s Brothers from beyond country borders came to pay their last respects and to support his family. The church was overcrowded, and numerous wreaths in the Club colours decorated his coffin at the cemetery. On the way to his final resting place, Bandido Gunther1%er was accompanied by a Harley-Davidson convoy of his Brothers. Not least, his motorbike, adorned with his Club vest, awaited him at the cemetery. A long queue of Brothers, relatives and friends formed to sign the book of condolence and write their farewells with heartfelt words.
Even before Bandido Gunther1%er was called away by his serious illness, he left a personal message for the funeral shortly before his death, which was read to the international attendees in several languages. Afterwards, a short eulogy was held by the Bandidos MC, both of which are to read below.
Bandido Gunther1%er´s last personal message:
“Once as a small MF-group we came across the famous Bandidos MC. They impressed me from the very beginning, not because of the power they represent, but because of their cordiality!
Our Club stands on three foundations: “Love, Loyalty and Respect”! We are not just a Club where you have to own a Harley Davidson – we are also a Brotherhood!
I have met such great people here, which was very important to me – and is also a great consolation to me now! I am convinced they will not let my family down either.
What they take upon them gives proof of that, for example, that journey in short term even though it’s nearly not the motorbike season yet.
We have rules in this Club, some of which are strict, but every member in Europe abides by them. And for us, the season starts in April. From April you should have a roadworthy motorbike.”
In the following the eulogy held at the cemetary for our deceased Bandido Gunther1%er:
Gunther1%er, we are connected by this Club life – in particular, we two by our Twin-Chapters Bogen/Meran.
We lived the same lifestyle, espoused the same values – and were therefore so close, so tight-knit: more than just the sum of its parts. That is why our hearts weep now – yet we must not allow them to break because our hearts continue to beat for you.
Until it is on us to start our last earthly journey through the same tunnel, in which you have gone before us far too early.
Even though far from the eye, all the closer to the heart – and we know: where you have gone, now there is one who will take care of us here: and there is no doubt that we can rely on you there the same as we could here. Even death is powerless against what unites us.
Tears cleanse the heart, Fyodor Dostoevsky once said. Moreover, our grief, our pain is, first of all, a measurement of the the Love, the Loyalty, the Respect that unites us.
I can well imagine that on your last journey, your Twin-Chapter Brother, Bandido Schmutzi1%er, who passed away in 2019, stood at the first gas station to accompany you to the Forever Chapter. That you both might one day welcome us is a comforting thought for us – which gives us hope.
And as Friedrich Nietzsche said: “Hope is the rainbow over the rushing stream of life.”
Thank you Gunther1%er, for your friendship, for being who you were – we are honoured to call you our Brother!
Vaya Con Dios, Brother! Gone But Not Forgotten! Rest In Peace!
Love, Loyalty and Respect!
