But his spirit remains firmly in Eden, in the edifice that is the Mary MacKillop Hall. Set against the sparkling ocean across which Mr McGrath’s morse code once travelled, the hall’s restoration is largely thanks to him, and is an enduring reminder of his devotion to Eden.

In memory of this devotion, the Eden Killer Whale Museum and Mary MacKillop Hall will come together next week to unveil a memorial plaque at the hall.  

EKWM’s Bob Sykes still has fond memories of Mr McGrath visiting the museum.

“He was one of the last morse-codians around,” Mr Sykes said.

“He would come in two days a week and send morse codes to others around Australia.

“He told me he dreamed in morse code.”

Phil McGrath was a long-term resident of Eden, with wife Valerie and four children. He worked in the old Eden post office, then as a washing machine repairman, and played a role in the Eden Lions’ Club and development of the swimming pool and skate ramp.

But it was his work converting the old Our Lady Star of the Sea Church into the Mary MacKillop Hall that’s most notable, said hall manager Mike Sheppard.

“A seed grant from the N.S.W. Department of Heritage provided funding to start in 2001,” Mr Sheppard said on Monday.

“Phil was very keen to build a memorial to a remarkable Australian woman who had a close connection to the Eden community following the death of her mother, Flora, in the wreck of the steamship, the Ly-ee-Moon, off Greencape in 1886. The care extended to the remains of her mother by the Eden community impressed Mary MacKillop greatly.”

Mr McGrath enlisted “a band of followers” to “restump, refloor, repaint, reroof and generally bring the building back to life” Mr Sheppard said, and secured thousands of dollars worth of voluntary labour and materials to finalise the project.

Mr McGrath’s memorial plaque will be unveiled at the hall at 10am next Thursday October 6, and everyone is welcome.