Top cop ‘Golly’ honoured at emotional funeral service
Andrew Stafford |
A former police commissioner has been farewelled at a funeral dedicated to the private man behind the lifelong officer who shepherded a state through times of crisis.
Almost 800 people gathered to celebrate former Queensland top cop Steve Gollschewski, 67, who died on September 4 after a lengthy battle with lung cancer.
Premier David Crisafulli and Governor Jeannette Young were among those at Brisbane’s City Hall on Monday, along with Tasmania’s Police Commissioner Donna Adams.
However it was Mr Gollschewski’s family who took centrestage at an emotional service for one of the state’s longest serving officers.
Survived by his wife Rebecca and six children, he was remembered as a great man who fought cancer to the end to be with his family.
“We love him for everything he did, and everything he was and always will be to us,” his wife told the service on Monday.
Mr Gollschewski was appointed as the state’s 21st police commissioner in April 2025, only to be forced to step down 10 months later following a shock cancer diagnosis.
After a brief return, he retired from the service in February 2026 to spend time with his family.
Mr Gollschewski selflessly looked after Queenslanders for 46 years during a stellar career, becoming the state’s third-longest serving officer, Ms Young said.
“It is now for us to honour his memory by looking after one another, just as he believed Queenslanders always would,” she said.
Mr Gollschewski helped usher Queenslanders through their darkest times after rising through the ranks.
In 2011, he led the operational responses to the Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley floods as well as one of the biggest cyclones in Queensland’s history – Yasi.
He was appointed as the state’s disaster response co-ordinator in 2013 in a role he held for nearly a decade, becoming a familiar figure during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Throughout the chaos, people turned to his calm resolve and disciplined leadership for which he was so highly respected,” Chief Superintendent Colin Briggs said.
Mr Gollschewski was a deeply ethical officer who led with principle, integrity and values, he said.
In 1991, he joined the Criminal Justice Commission and assisted with the police reform program arising from the Fitzgerald Inquiry into police corruption that turned Queensland on its head in the late 1980s.
Supt Briggs said while Mr Gollschewski’s shelves were filled with awards and memorabilia, the most cherished possessions on his desk were family photos.
He said they served as a constant reminder of why he was there.
“He wanted to help build a safer community for his family and for all Queenslanders,” he said.
At the service conducted by chaplain Peter Devinish-Meares, a guard of honour stretching more than 300 metres from Brisbane’s City Hall was formed for the man affectionately known as “Golly”.
AAP