Desmond Reilly

Desmond Reilly – Eulogy & Life Story - Read byTerry Reilly) at Des's funeral at Orange.

Thank you all for attending the service today and for everyone travelling. Keep safe. We are all here to celebrate the long life of my dad, Des Reilly. I have spent a lot of time with Des over the past 20 years and managed to collect photos and stories relating the Reilly Family History. Today I have assembled a chronological summary of Des’s Life Story from all this material and am happy to share it with you today as a Eulogy about the man we loved. I also assembled a DVD of photos complementing this information. We will play that at function later – so please come along and see his photos. And I have a few personal comments at the end. Maybe Rose might say a few words too.

DES REILLY: Born: 21st Jan 1920 at Maryborough QLD. - He was one of 6 children - 3 boys and 3 girls. - Des has 22 descendants: - Interestingly, Des went on to have the same combination of children as his parent 3 +3. - He also has 14 Grandchildren / 2.5 Great Grandchildren.

Raised: Des was raised on the family 600-acre dairy/mixed farm - called Stockholm – bought in 1907 by his Irish father (Maynooth) and his mother (daughter of Irish immigrants-Tipperary)- the year they were married. - At Boowoogum, near Woolooga (which is between Gympie and Maryborough, QLD). I’m sure his parents are proud he is having his funeral on St Patrick’s Day today. Also it is his Great Grandchild Leah’s 6th birthday today - so she is here for Des and her party.

Family and Boyhood When I was young, stories about Des’s boyhood sounded exciting. Des used to recite stories to us, as children, about bushfires encroaching and surrounding the homestead or buring on Mt. Atherton, and of snaring wild/feral animals. And of course riding horses and milking cows.

BUT: when Des turned 9 years of age life began to change rapidly. – (The 1st child, a boy, Owen, had already died in childhood).

The remaining family was mum, dad & 5 children.

Firstly - Des’s father, Michael, died at he age of 72 in 1929 when Des was just 9 - This left Des and his brother Jim, and his 3 sisters, Winnie, May and Kassie, to work on the dairy farm with their mother. But Kassie was only 3. - His mother fortunately was still quite young (40) as she was just 17 yrs 6 mths old when she had married Michael who was already 41.

But Des’s father’s death was then followed by: - In 1933 his sister Winnie, dying aged 22 of Hodgkinson’s Disease, when Des was 13 and - 8 months later in 1934 his sister May, dying aged 23 of Rheumatic Fever, when Des was 14.

This left his Mum-Mary, - Older brother Jim, - Des and the - Youngest sister Kassie – who was just now 8 yrs old.

These remaining 4, of the original 8, went on to have much longer lives too.

- Mum-Mary - died in 1982 at age of 92yrs & 8 mths.

- Des’s older brother, Jim, remained on the property with his mother, Mary. Jim remained a bachelor – and died in 2002 - aged 89.

- Kassie - after marrying and raising 2 children in Maryborough - died the day after Jim in 2002 – aged 75.

As an aside - Des, Martin and I flew to QLD and had one of the most unusual days of our lives. We attended - A Gympie funeral for Jim in the morning and - A Maryborough funeral for Kassie in the afternoon. - And both Jim and Kassie were buried near the rest of the family at Maryborough Cemetery. - That day too Kassie’s oldest daughter took us to visit sick No 2 daughter, Margie, who died several weeks later of Crohn’s Disease.

But back to Des’s Life Story.

School (6yo) Des started school at Brooyar Primary School on 27/1/1926 aged 6 years.

He rode a horse to school with his brothers and sisters and neighbours like the Staples family. He always remembered Miss MacGregor his first teacher and later Bob Hoare - who was a keen sportsman who taught him and his friend Frank Shanahan to play cricket and tennis.

It was a very small bush school of 22 children in 1930 with 6 students in his 6th class. - Des claimed he came first in his class every year in primary school. When we (his children) did not believe him in about 1961, he wrote to his mother and she sent a box containing the books he was awarded for coming 1st in class each year. Sure enough there were 6 books. Two titles I (Terry) recall were 'The Musgrave Ranges’ and 'Tom Brown's School Days'. - I took the Musgrave Ranges to 1st year Manual Arts classes and recovered it in Bookbinding classes. - I read it about 10 times too and dreamed of becoming a drover in Central Australia like the main characters in this story - Interestingly enough, Des’s uncle, Tom, had been a drover and done just that sort of thing.

Anyway, school finished for him after 6 years and it was home to the property to work, as there were no local High Schools in those days.

The Depression: 1930 (10yo) Des said living on the family farm in the days of The Depression was ok for him and his family compared to other people - They were always able to grow plenty of food from their mixed farm even if there was no cash about. - But Des always said that in those days it was really terrible for some people: - There were always men ‘on the wallaby’ and ‘jumping the rattler’ without food or money as a result of The Depression. - They were forced to move from town to town each day where the Police would give them a feed and tell them to move onto the next town. - He said his family always gave them a feed when they came in from the road requesting food and work.

I am sure it was this experience, in his formative years, that led him to always have a lot of compassion for the homeless or unemployed all his life. An example of this is when he took over the pub – there were old stables our back – an older homeless jockey used to live in there – Des always made sure he had a feed and in winter that he had his flask of rum filled before he went to bed. – Des simply said there was no heating out where he lived.

The lessons were learned early: Des was determined to work very hard and see all us kids had an education and went on to acquire decent jobs. – And we kids all got the message early that there are no free rides in life.

Leaving Home (16yo) To earn some money, Des had to leave home in 1936 at the age of 16 and the area of Woolooga/Boowoogum - He worked at Blackbutt (200km south by road out near Kilcoy west of the Glass House Mountains) for Billy and Mary Leane (farmers) for about 2 years. - Billy’s son was the farm manger and Des and another guy, Bill Hillary worked as the farm hands on the Leane’s farm. - Des and Bill shared a small hut on the farm. - Their tasks included milking 100 cows by hand twice a day, repairing fences and planting crops by hand. - Des recalls the farm had no wells or windmills but always had plenty of water. - Bill Hillary left Leane’s before Des to join the Army. - Bill went to New Guinea and Des recalls receiving letters from him there. But eventually Des too was called up to the Army.

War Service Service No QX46003 He enlisted at Yarraman, QLD (15km west of Blackbutt) His 1st Camp was Gravely, Brisbane. In a short time he was given a chance to joining the Signals Section. This was great because he also earned a pay rise from 6 Shillings to 8 shillings a week.

Then he was sent to Townsville where he contracted Dengue Fever and ended up in Charters Towers Hospital (140km west of Townsville). Here he entertained himself watching US Air-force pilots try to learn to fly planes with lots of near accidents.

Des’s Unit was immediately sent to Darwin once the Japanese bombed it. It was a long trip by train. As they approached they witnessed many discarded vehicles along the side of the road that had run out of fuel by people departing Darwin as promptly as they could.

Des was at camp 50km from Darwin. As Darwin was being bombed, he said just hearing the bombing was scary enough, without seeing it.

At the end of the war Des and the troops left Darwin and were conveyed by open truck all the way back to Ingleburn in Sydney. Des remembers a bitterly cold winter in Ingleburn when all the men were sick with a terrible strain of influenza.

He was eventually sent to Bowengilla Camp at Albury, NSW before being discharged in 1946, aged 26, in NSW. Des’s name is listed on the War Monument in Woolooga.

Employers and Life after the War All discharges from the Army were based on each soldier having already found employment - so it was a frantic effort by everyone to find work to get away from the Army life.

In 1946 (26yo) - Des obtained a job in Redfern as a Machine Operator at Pioneer Springs – where they made bedsprings. - Des was living at a boarding house at Erskineville. - He also did some hoddying (i.e. Brickies labourer) and worked for a bookmaker at the Randwick races on Saturdays.

In February 1948 (28yo) - Attended his 1st interview at A.M.P. Society. As a result, he was employed as an Industrial Agent for the Merrylands and Fairfield Districts. - As a result his first home purchase was a new house in Hamilton Rd Fairfield. - Children Terry and Leone lived here. - He used to ride a small motorbike to work around the District.

In 1952 (32yo) - He successfully got a job with National Cash Register Company, in Newcastle, where he stayed for 4 years. He was selling a fancy new machine called, a ‘cash register’ that had recently hit the market. He told me about a very successful day early on, when he sold 2 of the most expensive models to the publican at the Shoal Bay Hotel – who wanted them because he has recently been robbed.

The 2nd home was soon bought at 19 Copeland St East Lambton where he lived from 1953-62

In 1956 (36yo) - He still enjoyed sales and secured another job with a new company called Waltons-Sears, in Newcastle, where he stayed for 16 years until 1972. The Sears component was a US company with lots of new ideas including employee superannuation, or profit sharing as it was called then, as they were given shares in the company.

In Newcastle 4 more children, Martin, Rosemary, Anthony and Karen were born. The 3rd home was soon bought at 29 Compton St., North Lambton where he lived from 1962-72.

Wellington: (52yo) In 1973 - Des moved to Wellington and - On 23 February 1973 became the Publican - Central Hotel - Wellington

Here he found a job here he really loved. Fun began immediately when he found out he had bought what was termed a Shearer’s Pub. There was plenty of sheep in Australia then and all the sheds were shearing. The shearers would finish one job and book into the pub en mass until the next job started. They would hand over their pay cheques and expect Des to be there Banker for a weekend or a week, whatever. Each guy had a slate – and the publican provided – beer, food, accommodation and cash for cigarettes or the horses. Then when their job was ready they expected the remaining cash in hand.

I think Des found this surprise plenty of work – but a bonus and absolutely loved to work this way and where everyone trusted everyone – how could you go broke if shearers drank in your pub?

In 1976 - He married Dawn Allen on 14th Aug 1976 and they operated the hotel as a real team for the next 14 years. - Des managed the bars and Dawn the Dining Room and House. - They loved a project - and specialised in constantly improving the accommodation in the hotel, which became very successful and brought them many regular clients. - Some accommodation rooms were sacrificed so En-suites were being added for ea room - Family rooms were created with joining rooms - Solar heating for hot water was added - They never stopped. And it would be hard to find a couple that worked so hard and so well together.

Retirement: In Dec 1990 - At 70 years age (almost 71) Des retired. - On the 14th December 1990 - sold Central Hotel Wellington and he and Dawn retired to the lovely town of Orange. – They still reside at 130 Bathurst St Orange N.S.W.

Des and Dawn have enjoyed 20 years of retirement together. Their favourite past time has been driving to all the small towns in the Cabonne Country and enjoying the good produce and cafes/restaurants. For years they have been bringing home the seasonal fruits/berries of the district and having jam/preserving bottling days. We children have all enjoyed what was shared around.

Despite vowing not to begin vegetable gardening again in retirement, Des could not look at his lovely backyard lawn without seeing an opportunity. It didn’t take long before he had 3-stage compost going and the back lawn turned totally over so he could enrich the soil with organic material and get the veggie garden beds going again.

He also took up Home Brewing and believed he was quite the expert & had some fine brews.

It was not uncommon over the years to get a knock from the courier on the front door. There would be an old beer carton – not filled with beer, as he never gave it away – but filled with beautiful potatoes and rhubarb, that still smelt of organic soils from the backyard. And maybe there would be a bottle of Raspberry Jam hidden in the middle.

In 2006 – aged 86 - Des gave up his Drivers Licence. Still with an almost impeccable driving record.

With age Des gained wisdom and frequently told us: ‘ I’ve had a good look at old age and can say that there is absolutely nothing to recommend it’. So he just got on with Dawn and enjoyed it while they could. Without a car he and Dawn were limited to visiting local cafes and restaurants. They loved their Friday date: – That is, every Friday they had a lunch date together regardless of whatever else was on – And what a great town to be stuck in, Orange. – Whether it was out to La Colline (see Aline), Highland Heritage, Selkirk’s, Union Bank, Lolli Rodini, – they did them all. – In recent times, they had a regular booking with Scott, at Harrisons Restaurant. – So a special thank you to Scott and staff for the way you looked after them in recent years. And I must say it has been a delight for many of the family to join them and enjoy their company at many of these lunches.

Nursing Homes (Jan 2010) It has only been the last 15 months, since Des’s age and the onset of Parkinson’s, has seen him forced into a Nursing Home - But note he still escaped every Friday for his Lunch Date with Dawn until very recently. In Jan 2010, Des spent about a month at Moyne Nursing Home at Canowindra. Here many of us attended his 90th in one of the local pubs. But he was not finished and fought successfully to get his mobility working again. Soon he was back to Orange to St Francis Nursing Home where he had a better 12 months. On 21st Jan 2011 he celebrated his 91st birthday at Harrison’s Restaurant. Still with 2 cappuccinos and 2 glasses of Chardonnay. On only 18th Feb 2011 Des was admitted to Wantana Nursing Home, as he needed full time care. So he has been indeed fortunate in his life to enjoy such wonderful health for so long. He has also had a pain free life - he had a hip replacement in his mid 80s – but it was very successful. So again if you are going to live to 91, a healthy pain free life is the way to go. Des understood his good fortune.

Only a week ago on 7th March - Rosie and I arrived to see him: We asked him how he was feeling? He said: ‘All things considered – I feel pretty good’. And added ‘I don’t have any pain in any part my body’. It was an amazing comment for someone who was looking so frail.

It seems Des was, not just blessed with good health all his life, - He had a very peaceful passing with the support of his son Anthony by his side.

Orange Aged Care and Home Care Services: I would like to express the Family’s gratitude to both the Aged Care and Home Care Services in Orange that have been so loving and caring over the past couple of years.

They have made both Des and Dawn’s lives very manageable.

I know some of the carers have become like extended family.

Thank you all very much for the professional and very caring assistance you gave to Des and continue to give Dawn.

Dawn: A few words to you. We know today is about the loss of Des, but we also understand it is also the loss of a fine marriage of 35 years between you and Des. You have so much to be proud of. To you Dawn we share your loss, but in a different way. We all want the best outcome for you. You have longevity in your family tree and we look forward to supporting you in any way we can in the future too. Thanks for being such a good wife to our Dad for 35 years and being a friend to us for so long. I know we will continue that friendship and contact for many years to come.

To my Dad – just a couple of Personal words: - Thanks for being such a great mate when we were kids and spending so much time with me – we built a lot of footpaths garden beds and lawns together at North Lambton - Thanks for my beautiful new Norm O’Neill cricket bat and for showing me how to care for it with linseed oil. - Lucky you taught me a bit about bowling too – not even you could teach me to bat though - and it seemed I was more useful as a bowler - Thanks for all the hours you spent with me in primary school showing me how to do maths – that did stick well - And lastly, thanks for being such a good example about how to live my life. You lived your life with compassion, humility, honesty, a good work ethic and a can-do attitude. - Hopefully, most of it stuck with me and all the Reilly kids.

Finish: A bit of Aging Philosophy - I feel there are great benefits about getting to know elderly people. - They are the ones who have been the contacts with the generations before them. - As the elderly begin to age they often begin to share the knowledge of the previous generations. - For whatever reason it is knowledge that they may not have shared when they were younger. - Thus by knowing them – you, the current generations get to know about the past which informs you about the context and reasons for why things are like they are today. - Accordingly, it assists each of us make better decisions about our own futures.

- My observation is that most of my elderly family I have got to know well in recent years, have many times in their lives all had to adapt to circumstances usually totally out of their control

- Nevertheless, they have managed to restart and live fulfilled and worthwhile lives. - We can all do the same when we have setbacks in our lives. - They have set us a great example – to never give up.

- Thanks Des Reilly - I’m proud to have known you and been your son. - You have lived a good, happy and useful life for the many people you had contact with. - I know you rest in peace with what you have done with the life you were given. - Goodbye from your Family, Friends, and supporters here today. Perhaps Rosie may have had a few words she would like to share too about the type of guy Dad was and thing he did with us.