The procession was followed by a wake at the Wheatsheaf, a venue famous for pioneering craft beer on tap, its stand against pokies and its support of live music. Trott had owned and operated the hotel with partners Jade Flavell and Liz O’Dea since 2003.

A funeral service was also held on Monday at Wirra Wirra, the McLaren Vale winery which was started by her family and was her childhood home. Around 1000 friends and family attended.

Trott was the daughter of winemaker Greg Trott and teacher Joanne Schmidt, both now deceased. As well as being well-known for her involvement in hospitality and the arts, she had amassed a wide circle of friends who loved her for her humility, humour, creative spirit and ability to make everybody feel comfortable.

At the funeral, tributes representing her life were laid on her coffin, including the Adelaide Roller Derby League flag for her support of the sport; her ukulele “Honey”, for her involvement with The Wheatsheaf Ukelele Collective; “Goosey Lucy”, a raffia goose that was a gift from her father and became the Wheatsheaf Hotel mascot; and one of her vast collection of Polaroid cameras, which were a source of experimentation and creation.

You might like

Archive

Poems: Birds of a feather

Archive

A love story that pushes the boundaries of on-screen representation

After completing secondary education at the Wilderness School, Emily Trott went on to study photography at the South Australian School of Art (Stanley Street) in North Adelaide. On finishing her degree, she worked for Pip Forrester and Russell Jeavons at McLaren Vale restaurant The Salopian Inn before joining the staff at Rundle Street’s Exeter Hotel in the mid ’90s.

At the Exeter, she met and worked alongside Jade Flavell and Liz O’Dea. In her eulogy at Wirra Wirra, Flavell said the trio “learnt the trade” together and decided they wanted to run a pub of their own – “the kind of pub that we’d like to drink at and hope others felt likewise”.

When the Exeter Hotel came up for sale, they put in a bid, but were unsuccessful. Trott went on to manage the bar at the Royal Oak Hotel in North Adelaide before an opportunity came up to buy the Wheatsheaf Hotel at Thebarton.

Although some believed Adelaide couldn’t support another non-pokie venue, the trio set out to create a pub with the stated mission to keep “beer real, wine independent, whisky odd, music live and art public”.

The Wheatsheaf now has its own in-house brewery, the Wheaty Brewing Corps, and the hotel last week celebrated its 13^th birthday and the creation of an extraordinary community with a life of its own.

It will continue to run without Trott’s physical presence, but her spirit will remain in the look and feel of the hotel and in her mandate “to have fun and feel good”. The distinctive font used on “The Wheaty” website was created by her friend, graphic designer Amy Milhinch, from Trott’s handwriting, and the restoration of the 1978 Citroen H “Wheaty Brewing Corps van” will be completed in her honour.

Emily Trott is survived by her partner Katie Crocker, her sister Catherine Trott, and her cats Benatar, Pablo and Little One. She will be sadly missed by her extensive community of friends and family.

Donations in her honour can be made to Edgar’s Mission and the Australian Sarcoma Group.