Don Fletcher
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Don Fletcher was born on June 23, 1936, in Bega to Frank and Beatrice.
He attended school in Eden and at the age of 15 started work at Green's Cannery, later known as the Heinz Cannery.
Don worked in general maintenance, then progressed to becoming a fitter, becoming one of its longest serving employees and retiring after 46 years.
He saw so many changes to the factory over the years and so many people come and go, and he often reminisced about the good times and the many great people he got to know during his career.
Don married local girl, Mary Thornton, in 1962 and went on to have three boys and one girl, and he adored them all.
A keen rugby player for Eden in his younger years, in his later years he loved being a spectator, supporting the Eden Tigers.
He was known to many as 'Snow', a nickname he had from a very young age.
He loved everything about the close knit town of Eden, so never had any desire to leave other than holidaying and even then couldn't wait to get back home.
Don passed away on March 1, 2015, after a short battle with cancer.
He is survived by Mary, his four children and seven grandchildren.
Don was a kind and gentle man and he will be forever missed by all his family and friends.
- words by Louise Thiedeman
Phil McGrath
Eden has been saddened by the recent deaths of some of its most valued senior citizens, including Don Fletcher, Trevor Wood and Flo Bobbin.
We should be grateful for the legacy they have left us.
Last week it was Phil McGrath and for younger readers or new arrivals to Eden, it is proper that a few words of tribute be made, for Phil was a truly humble man who worked gratuitously for the common good and was awarded the Bega Valley Shire Medallion and later in 2005, Eden Citizen of the Year.
You don’t have to travel far around the town of Eden before you see something that Phil helped create or maintained.
From the old post office where Phil was the postal clerk and acting post master from 1962 to 1966, to being the retail manager of Armstrong and Evans for nine years.
In the early 1960s Phil and Pastor Ossi Cruise organised children’s dances in the old RSL Hall.
In the 1970s Phil was president and key mover and fundraiser for the building of an olympic, six-lane, 50-metre pool for Eden.
Phil also worked to promote surf lifesaving and worked with the legendary Curly Annabelle on the Eden leg of a number of George Bass surfboat marathons.
In 1995 Phil started the Eden Historic Cemetery Committee as president, to restore this sacred ground to its rightful place.
Phil was the co-ordinator in the restoration of the old Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Calle Calle Street, as it was changed for a new life as Mary MacKillop Hall.
On Tuesdays and Wednesdays Phil could be found volunteering at the Eden Killer Whale Museum, operating the old post office Morse code equipment.
Eden Lions and the ESSCI club have benefitted from Phil’s membership and also the finance committee of the Catholic Parish.
When Phil and his wife Val owned their own appliance service business they would assist the charities such as St Vincent de Paul with the upkeep of washing machines for the needy.
Phil will be sadly missed, but the Eden township has been enriched by his talent and generosity.
- words by John Liston
David John Crehan
Dave (David John) Crehan was born, to Mike (Michael John) and Pixie (Olive Jean) Crehan, on the 21st of June 1960.
He was fourth in a family of five children, Tamara, Connie, Micky, David and Sean.
As a kid, Dave was friendly and outgoing and he liked to be out and about doing things with his mates who, all, to this day still regard him as one of their best mates.
Dave's idea of a good time was to go fishing and camping, and he had planned to come home (with Tyler) this Easter to do just that. When he went camping he wanted all his friends to be with him and share in the fun.
Dave would have liked a roast pig spit for his wake but Micky didn't know how to organize it, maybe his mates and families will put one on in the future to remember him by.
Dave joined the Navy when he was 16 and was soon assigned to submarines where he served until he was discharged on 29 July 1985. While in the Navy he went to school and became a Marine Engineer.
He had various jobs after the Navy including working on an oilrig, fishing out of Eden and Coffs Harbor. He sailed to Tasmania as a hand on an old sailing ship that had a "Mad captain" and only Dave and one other as crew.
It was during this time that David met and married Dianne and they had a daughter Ebony Joy on the 27th of February 1987, sadly Ebony passed away on the 8th of November 2014.
Ebony and Shaun Cubis gave birth to a lovely little boy Tyler who is now 10 1/2 years old and his "Pa was his rock".
David was always there for Ebony and Tyler, and when Ebony died a big part of Dave died too.
For a while, Dave became a bit of a sheep farmer up at Glen Innes where he married a girl named Connie Kerr. The marriage was short, but it was during that time that Ebony moved to Glen Innes and met Sean and Tyler was born. It was also during that time that Dave first found he had very bad heart problems and underwent surgery.
He moved back to Eden and then his mate talked him into going to Tafe in Newcastle to update his credentials, which he did and passed college with high distinctions. Dave worked as Second Engineer on the ship MV Finnmarken which was stationed off Barrow Island Western Australia. David was an excellent worker and often was asked to extend his shifts. After 10 months Dave moved with Ebony and Tyler to Newcastle to be near his sweetheart Lyndy.
David left the sea and he decided to try his hand at being a security guard so he could be at home for Tyler while Ebony went to school. Dave was working as a security guard in a mall when Ebony passed away (Tyler was at home and found Ebony had died in her sleep.)
Dave was highly respected as a security guard. He was often doubled booked to do jobs…or was fought over by his fellow security guards who wanted to work with him… Dave had a great ability to show respect but also made people feel very safe and supported
After the memorial for Ebony last December, Dave, Shaun and Tyler went back to Newcastle and with the help of Lyndy, packed up and moved to Glen Innes where the boys shared a home. It was Dave's wish to see Tyler settled and then he would see where his heart lay.
David was a very proud man and would often tell stories about his family and how they worked hard as young kids. He loved the life on the water and at the pier. He loved talking about when his mum would shell the scallops and leave the shells for Dave and is brother and sisters to paint eyes on them and sell them at the pier. He would tell how, when the Hire boats would break down, his Dad would rescue them or leave the boys to collect them.
Dave would have loved his new job …security at the local shows around Glenn Innes. In his earlier years Dave was heavily involved in the Glenn Innes show. He was on the showman committee and would himself show his own rabbits. When we were speaking to his partner at the Guyra show, he told us how David had visited the sheds where the animals were and had positioned himself at the ringside. Just to check it all out….
Anyone who met Dave would say, “What a great bloke.”
We were so shocked to receive the news from Shaun that Dave had died at the Guyra Show where he was working as a security guard. He had passed away from a massive heart attack on Friday the 20th of February at 11.28 pm.
Dave was a Great man, Intelligent, Compassionate, and Respectful. A very much loved Son, Brother, Dad, Pa, Partner and most importantly friend to all. He was generous, modest, and patient, determined, and had high moral standards with a loving caring attitude.
He was our hero, he was loved deeply and he will remain in our hearts forever.
- words by Michele Dobrogosz.
Florrie (Flo) Bobbin
Born on the 2nd March, 1927, at Burragate west of Eden, the youngest of 4 Children to Alice Sawers, she was the only sister to Clyde, Athol and Wally.
Florrie was only small when her mother died and she was unable to stay with family members and as her older brother was not married he could not give her a home.
She would have been sent to an orphanage in Sydney, but Clyde saw Mrs Porter from Palestine who had fostered children before and young Florrie was put in her care where she lived until she married Tom (John Thomas) Bobbin on the 3rd of March 1945, the day after she turned 18.
Florrie lived for her children, she loved school holidays when the children could be at home and she could hear them laughing and playing around their home, always happy, she was heard to comment to her sisters-in-law that she didn’t like school holidays to end as she loved having the children around when they used to say they couldn’t wait for school holidays to end so the kids could go back to school.
Florrie used to cook, garden, knit and sew making most of the clothes the children wore on the old singer sewing machine – there was no electricity in those days.
The fridge was a kerosene run model, lights were kerosene, water from tanks, a hard but happy life for Florrie.
Florrie had sad times in her life, she lost two sons too soon, one only 18 months old and the other only 3 days old.
Florrie had a very big heart, didn’t criticize anyone, didn’t judge anyone and didn’t gossip.
As the years went Florrie hated her name so started to introduce herself as Flo.
Flo loved her late husband Tom and after he passed away almost 9 years ago she filled in her days with her garden, taking care of her cat, spending time at her Senior’s Group, going to the raffles and bingo at the Eden Fishermen’s Club.
Flo loved the raffles and she had a lucky streak and used to win a lot, she became a good friend to staff at the Fishermen’s Club, she grew to love the regulars, the bus drivers treated her with the utmost respect and she would usually buy “her boys” a box of chocolates for Christmas.
Florrie's life changed greatly in June 2014 when she had a stroke.
After then her independence was greatly taken away from her, she wasn't able to catch the bus to the club and come and go as she pleased, she stayed living on her own at home with support and she still got to go out to the club where everyone was always happy to see her.
If she didn’t win any prizes at the Raffles she would ask the caller did they forget to put her numbers in!
Flo had indicated that she wanted to have a big 90th birthday party but sadly she passed away just 5 days short of her 88th birthday.
Flo had such a big heart and will be missed by many.
- words by Maree O'Neill
TREVOR WOOD
1926-2015
We all knew Trevor Wood in various ways, in various roles and in various guises.
Allow me to give my take, my perceptions, of the man who was my dad.
Dad was humble, modest and unpretentious, a man with a solid set of values which underpinned and guided his life and whose principles he expected of others.
He was also a very private man.
Further, he was a patriarch who took great pride in each and every member of his considerable family of seven children, 15 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.
Dad was indeed fortunate to have an enduring and loving relationship with his child-bride.
He was a paragon of loyalty to mum and, during 65 years of marriage, it was evident that his love and affection for her were undiminished.
I recall once, not that long ago, watching as they danced together blissfully ignorant of those around them.
Their early married life was difficult and peppered with events and circumstances which were challenging and difficult to resolve.
Money was tight, house moves were frequent and babies kept coming.
Dad was the consumate gentleman.
That doesn't mean he didn't lapse in the privacy of his own home, where singlets and shorts were de riguere and where burps of siesminc proportion were followed by a delicate and diminuitive "Oops, pardon me".
Despite the largesse of his fertile loins dad always displayed an awkwardness with children.
Paradoxically, his grandchildren seemed to gravitate to him.
Most grandfathers are given the esteemed title of grandad, gramps or more simply, pop. Due to the inability of one of his grandchildren to articulate a relatively simple word, "grandad" became mangled to "grads".
He loved the name, saw it as a term of endearment and wore it as a badge of honour.
Dad was a pragmatic man and compassionate man.
In later years he was an active member of the sub-branch of the RSL, Rotary and Meals on Wheels, the involvment in which demonstrated a clear commitment to the local community.
He treasured and fostered the relationships he forged with kindred spirits who made their way into his life, in particular, Blue Conelly, Barry Wynn, Gerry Johnston, Bernie Pointing, Nug Hibben and Charlie Reef, to whom he was known as Timber.
In many ways these relationships were an extension of, or clinging to, a life he enhjoyed the most, his time in the RAAF.
Interestingly, I know virtually nothing about his day-to-day job in the air force but I am thoroughly well-versed on every hi jinx, antic, perk and scam in which he was involved during his time in the service.
A lot of these events involved either fishing or drinking, usually both.
In the end, Dad didn't leave the RAAF, the RAAF left him; he was left high and dry by a generational change which he found hard to accomodate.
As a senior NCO with a rank based on merit he had difficulty in saluting new generation officers who were, in his words, "too young to shave".
Eulogies have a way of papering over the cracks of personal imperfections and sanctifying if not deifying the life of the departed.
The aforementioned attributes notwithstanding, the old man did have a few barnacles on his personality.
He could be, and often was, a cranky old bugger.
However in his defence this attribute is more a function of age and is, arguably, a right and an entitlement.
He was also, at times, impatient, unyeilding, uncooperative, inflexible, critical, conservative, humourless … and now I think I am beginning to describe myself.
Dad did not build an empire, he did not shape the political landscape; he has no structures named in his honour.
However, his legacy is, and will be, more enduring as he has embued in his children a set of values, ethics and standards which will undoubtedly perpetuate through their respective and successive families.
If, in the final analysis, I am measured to be only half the man my father was, I will have done remarkably well.
- words by Graeme Wood