GRAEME Astbury will be remembered for being a “down-to-earth, honest bloke”, who was a solid contributor to the Kerang community.
Born in Kerang on August 2, 1932, Graeme was the youngest of three children. He grew up on his parent’s farm in Macorna and attended the Macorna Group School.
His first job was working as a farmhand on a property at Macorna, where he would drive grain trucks, tractors and harvesting equipment. The next job he had was as a plant operator at what was then the Kerang Shire.
While Graeme was still living at Macorna with his family, a group of young Kerang women volunteered to travel out to Macorna to teach the locals how to square dance. It was there that he met his future wife, Thelma.
“Uncle Graeme recalled that night vividly,” Graeme’s niece said in the eulogy read at his funeral.
“Thelma Gray, one of the young ladies that was wearing a scarf around her neck that had her name embroidered on it. Graeme had taken note of this, and the next time he saw Thelma, at the Kerang show in October 1954, he used her name. She said, ‘How do you know my name?’ He mentioned the scarf, which she denied owning, but needless to say, the romance blossomed from there.”
Graeme and Thelma were married at the Catholic Church in Kerang on April 7, 1956.
Over the years, they built a happy life together in their home on North Street. They were not able to have children, but had many nieces and nephews whom they spent a great deal of time with.
Thelma and Graeme also enjoyed travelling to various places around Australia, and attending military tattoo performances and various other concerts and productions.
But Thelma wasn’t the only love in Graeme’s life, with the CFA being a prominent fixture in his life.
Graeme began his career in the CFA at the Macorna Brigade, before joining the Kerang Brigade in 1958, where his career spanned more than 68 years.
“I recall, even when he wasn’t such an active member of the brigade, he would always have his beeper near him just in case there may have been a situation where he could assist,” Graeme’s niece said.
Current Kerang Fire captain Ramon Steel said Graeme was still turning up o fires right up until his late 70s.
“He was just a solid contributor,” he said.
“You knew when Graeme turned up that whatever job he was tasked with would be done.”
His achievements during his time in the CFA reflected his passion and dedication to it, receiving a Queens Fire Service and Good Conduct medal, the Gold Star award, and becoming a life member of the Kerang Urban Fire Brigade in 1993.
He also closely followed the Kerang Football Netball Club, missing very few home games and keeping a track of the statistics with great interest, and attended every grand final without fail.
Graeme began to decline in health after the loss of his beloved Thelma in August of 2019. He entered care in December of 2021 and died on June 27, 2022.
