Wednesday, August 12, 2026
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Memories of my Dad
Steven and I were very lucky to get Dad as our father, he was very giving of his time and his experiences which he shared with us.
Growing up, we were always busy with soccer both indoors and outdoors. This saw us travelling to many places to play our games, Dad would always make sure he was able to get to quite a few, especially the important ones.
We also did a lot of water skiing at “Picnic Point”, then down here in Jervis Bay. Dad always at the controls making sure everything was ok. Dad went on to teach us both what to do when we took the controls.
Dad and I did our fair share of fishing too, at one point we joined “Penrith Sports Fishing Club” and got to go out with them.
I remember us going out to the “Peak” about 12 Nautical miles off Sydney Heads. During that trip, we had a shark swimming around all of the boats looking for a quick feed, it was the same length as our boat, well maybe not that long but it seems to grow the more times we told this story. Dad turned to me ans said “We have all the gear to catch that” then we both said together “then what!”
Then there was the time we went fishing off Port Hacking. We had been trawling for a few hours with no luck. We then came in close the rocks and anchored to see if we could get a few there. We had caught enough to be able to go back home without any shame. Dad asked me to pull up the anchor and he would get the boat started. To cut a long story short, i pulled up the anchor, but Dad didnt get the motor started. He then yelled out, hold onto something. A wave came up behind the boat and we were surfing the wave and it deposited us up on top of the rocks, almost no damage to us or the boat. The radio was still working, so we called for help. When they arrived the first thing they asked was “Do you have life vest” “We said yes” their reply was “Well put them on” we were too stunned to even realise we didn't have them on.
How we survived that day, I will never know.
Dad was a terrific story teller, we always knew there was a story coming when we heard, “Did I ever tell you about the time”
Dad taught me my first trade “Boilermaker”. This came from his experiences, and as he always did started with, "Did I ever tell you about the time”
Dad was always good to go to ask for advice, he was able to understand the meaning of the questions but trully had my best interest at heart.
I loved to see Dad with my kids, they got to have a glimpse of the Dad we had. Samantha actually got a great photo of him in his band uniform and bagpipes and entered it into a competition. Daniel got to play the trumpet whilst he accompanied him on the pipes.
Dad loved making breakfast for Mum every morning, when they finished they would go to the soft seats in the lounge room and finish their tea. Dad also loved making a Sunday BBQ breakfast, no one ever went hungry. We would always get the comments like “Wait till you try it and my BBQs are worth the wait” We would always catch him sampling his cooking to that he would say “Cooks Privelage” then he would give us a sample too, just to be sure its good.
Dad loved that ride on mower, he always said it saved him from having to walk around the yard. When the kids were younger, he loved when they would sit in trailer and he would tow them around the place.
Dad loved gardening as everyone can see, he was going to do a whole heap of propagating for me, bur looks like i will have to do that myself, luckily I had a good teacher.
I will miss him for a lot of things, for his council, his sense of humour, for his many stories, his help when ever I needed it, his desire to see me become the best man I could be, but most of all his love for me, Penny, Samantha and Daniel.
Rest in peace Dad.
You will always be in our hearts.
