Alan Bond has been remembered as a tenacious legend who had a huge impact on the lives of people around him, especially fellow businessmen.

The controversial tycoon died last week aged 77, not regaining consciousness after open heart surgery at Perth’s Mount Hospital.

Before a family-only funeral on Friday, some 600 people attended a public service at St Patrick’s Basilica in Fremantle, where Mr Bond married his first wife, Eileen, in 1955 when they were 17.

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Perth car dealership doyen John Hughes, Eileen’s cousin, spoke fondly of Mr Bond, crediting the charismatic entrepreneur entirely for pushing him to secure his large Victoria Park car business and even a house that he couldn’t afford.

Such was the determination and self-belief of the man that he inspired many others, spawning fellow entrepreneurs including Dallas Dempster, Mark Barnaba and Alan Birchmore.

“I don’t think we’ll see the likes of him again,” Mr Hughes said.

“And if we do, it won’t be for a very long time. This morning, we’re seeing the passing of a legend.”

He recalled how even at a very early age, there were signs of his talent for making money. As a young signwriter, he had provided a quote to a family member to paint a kitchen.

And years later when they and a handful of friends got caught in rough seas in a boat off Perth, Mr Bond showed tenacity and bravery by repeatedly plunging into the water to retrieve part of the vessel that had snapped and was drifting away.

“He would not give up,” Mr Hughes said.

“I can only speculate if in other times, Alan with his undoubted talents and fantastic ability, in a more controlled financial environment or a more disciplined business structure, just how far he would have gone.”

One of Australia’s richest men in the 1980s, Mr Bond became a national hero when he bankrolled Australia II’s triumph in the America’s Cup in 1983, the first non-American to win the sailing trophy in its 132-year history.

But the former Australian of the Year fell from grace less than a decade later when he declared bankruptcy in 1992.

He was jailed in 1997 for a $1.2 billion fraud involving his takeover of Bell Resources and was stripped of his Order of Australia.

Mr Bond was released in 2000, when he was shattered by the death of his 41-year-old daughter Susanne. He was again devastated in 2012 when his second wife Diana Bliss ended her own life after battling depression.

But in the interim he returned to the business world, with BRW magazine estimating his wealth in 2008 at $265 million.

Fr Don Hughes, who is Eileen’s brother, asked God to forgive Mr Bond for his imperfections and look instead at his generosity.

“No-one is perfect,” he said.

Tribute was also paid to Eileen, whose love and support was a huge part of Mr Bond’s success. She didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to her former spouse – he died while she flew from London to Perth to be at his bedside.

Outside the church, passers-by saluted Mr Bond’s hearse, some affectionately saying “goodbye, Bondy” as he was driven to his final resting place.

– AAP