THE PASSING OF A TRUE GENTLEMAN
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 saw the passing of one of Rockingham Sea Rescue’s esteemed members, Geoffrey Ward.
Geoff had been a member of the group for around 20 years and had been involved in the instruction of many of the boat crews and radio operators around today. His dedication to perfection will be sorely missed along with his quick smile and quiet humour. He was a man of few words but all of them worth listening to, precise, concise and no time wasting idle chatter, particularly in the radio room where his ear was always tuned to the radios, awaiting that call for assistance or to simply, just log on or off.
He will always be remembered by all who knew him as a person willing to help and offer guidance, explain the weather systems and how they affect us, but most of all, he will always be remembered as a true gentleman.
Aged 74, passed away on May 18, 2010 after a short illness.
He has been the driving force behind Rockingham Volunteer Sea Rescue Group for over four years and during this time has overseen the upgrading of equipment within the building and the purchase of his much loved vessel, the Jaimee Lee, something he worked very hard to achieve. This fast response vessel has enabled boat crews to get to the scene of an incident far quicker than ever before in greater comfort and safety. Due to his business knowledge and untiring efforts in fundraising he has left the group on a sound financial footing.
Born Peter John Reilly (known as John) in Subiaco in 1936 he spent most of his childhood years in inland Western Australia with his parents and in 1952 at the age of 16 (he put his age up to 17) he decided to join the Australian Army spending six years in the service and ending up in Sydney. In 1958 he took up interstate truck driving then turned his hand to operating various earthworks equipment in the North West for many years. Later he began to build up lawn mowing rounds, landscaping, gardening, finally taking on a Government contract to remove old wooden railway sleepers from the disused country rail networks. It became a big part of his business. He eventually sold it to retire and take up fishing and boating in the Rockingham area.
In 2006 he decided to become a volunteer and joined Rockingham Sea Rescue as a radio operator and ended up becoming its Commander in 2008. He was well known and respected throughout the boating community and became involved in many groups and committees with great devotion, drive and enthusiasm which will be missed by many.
John is survived by his wife Meryl.
Vale Commander John Reilly.
