About
Andrew Ternes and Julie Davey founded Mornington Peninsula Funerals with the aim to provide high quality funeral care, in a local environment, at an affordable price. Backgrounds in the funeral and medical professions and service industries provided a strong foundation for the organisation.
While working as an arranger and conductor with a large Melbourne-based funeral provider, Andrew was often questioned by families regarding the whereabouts of their loved ones prior to their service. He understood the need for a local care facility on the Peninsula. Somewhere that families could visit to view their loved ones, if desired, at any time before their final farewell. This was something a small independent funeral home could definitely offer.
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Some people he spoke to were also looking for a more personalised and affordable experience with services and ceremonies in venues familiar to each family; such as sailing and bowling clubs, beaches, various local function rooms, community halls – or even at the family home.
So after many months of exploration and planning, then waiting for government approvals, the go-ahead came to start building our Dromana care facility. Today it remains dedicated to caring for loved ones and offers a space for our team to meet with families.
In November 2023 we were awarded a score of 90%+ earning us a 'Highly Commended' in the highly contested Professional Services category of the Mornington Peninsula Business Excellence Awards.
Mornington Peninsula Funerals
Our team
We have a wonderful team of experienced staff who assist with our day to day operations.
Whether they are manning the reception desk, attending funerals or working behind the scenes, they are all dedicated to serving our client families in a professional and courteous manner.
ANDREW TERNES Managing Director
Andrew has owned and operated service-based businesses most of his life, and appreciates the importance of providing excellent customer service.
He loves helping people and hearing the many interesting stories that families have to share about their loved ones’ lives.
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Family and Community life
Andrew is married to Julie, has two daughters and a step dog. He served for four years on the board of The Attitude Books Foundation, a charity dedicated to helping build resilience in young children.
Andrew has been a Bass player in blues bands for more than 45 years and until launching Mornington Peninsula Funerals, he and Julie are members of McCrae Yacht Club.
JULIE DAVEY Director
Julie's background in general hospital and district nursing holds her in good stead to help families through the difficult time surrounding the loss of a loved one.
Family and Community life
Witnessing her Dad, Bruce, manage a terminal illness with optimism and determination – attitudes that helped him and the entire family cope with his cancer journey – Julie became inspired to write a series of books for children to guide and assist them to become more resilient, and to make the most of every day and every situation. Her books have been translated into multiple languages and distributed throughout Australasia and she has given hundreds of personal development talks in Primary schools.
Julie has also contributed many presentations for libraries and Probus meetings across the Peninsula and country Victoria, on the topic of Positive Thinking for Health and Happiness.
KIM ANDERSON
Kim's background in Human Resources led to her vocation as a Funeral Director – assisting families in their time of grief, which she describes as 'an honour and privilege'.
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She works together with families to create individually tailored Funerals and Celebration of Life Services.
Family and Community life
A resident of the Mornington Peninsula since 2018, Kim is thankful that her parents moved to Tootgarook in 1999 allowing her two (now adult) daughters to grow-up enjoying summers on the local front beach.
BRANKA SEEDSMAN
Branka is a long time local, passionate about helping others. She is a much loved member of our team.
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Her bio is on it's way :–)
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DAVID CARVER
David has held customer facing roles all his adult life, working in New Zealand, England, and Australia. For the last 20 years he was a director of a successful creative media agency, providing marketing services to blue chip multinationals.
A focused, uncritical listener David is empathetic and accommodating. Unobtrusive and observant, he has the life skills and experience to assist in the smooth, seamless running of each occasion.
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Family and Community life
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David moved from Melbourne to the Peninsula in 2019 in a refreshing sea-change.
He has a daughter who lives in Sydney and a son in Melbourne. He enjoys the relaxed lifestyle of the peninsula, and as a relatively new resident loves exploring the region. He is active in club level motorsport and with the watchful supervision of his cat Megs, can usually be found tinkering with his old car in the garage.
MICHAEL ROBERTS
Michael worked in management for several corporate food and beverage companies over 30 years until he sought a career change in 2015.
Appointed as State Operations Manager for a large funeral company in Melbourne, he was soon responsible for running eleven funeral homes within the group. With his caring and compassionate nature, and excellent communication style, Michael is well suited to assisting families during their time of need and we are indeed fortunate that he has chosen to join our team at Mornington Peninsula Funerals.
Family and Community life
Michael is married and has two children, a daughter and a son. He also has two granddaughters and loves spending time with them. Michael enjoys playing tennis, keeping fit and socialising with family and friends.
DAWN CLAVIN
Dawn is a long time resident of the Mornington Peninsula and loves the community feel of the area. She has worked in several admin roles over a long period of time, including previous senior management positions with funeral companies. She loves meeting people and sharing their stories and has a strong desire to support people in periods of stress and difficulty.
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Family and Community life
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Dawn enjoys spending time with her husband Peter, family, and friends. She has two daughters and a gorgeous granddaughter. She loves painting and drawing, gardening and cooking.
Funerals Vehicles
We have a beautiful, high roof, V8 Holden hearse and – for those passionate Ford enthusiasts – a newly refurbished silver hearse as well. Our chauffeur driven Mourning Coach is available to drive family members to their loved one's service. We also have a new Toyota van fully dedicated to the safe transport of loved ones from place of passing, to our care facility in Dromana.
