Don Hines

  Thank you all for coming today and paying your respects to a man who has inspired and touched us all – Donald Hines. Dad didn’t fly through the air or run a multi-million dollar empire or win the Nobel Peace Prize or anything like that. Yet growing up in Dad’s shadow, many men that knew him would tell me what a “great man” he was. Of course, as a kid he was “just” Dad and I would think they were “just” being polite. Now as a man and a father myself, I can look back at Dad and agree – he was a great man. For a man is only as good as his word and his reputation and must be confident and comfortable within himself. For those of us who had the privilege (and pain) of working with Dad can attest to not only his knowledge of building, but to his strong work ethic:- Work hardBe proud of what you doBe fair and honest in all your dealings He was a loyal and trusted friend to many. Dad had an immense sense of family, family ties and duty. He was a loving and completely devoted husband to Molly, father to his 3 children – Donny, Lesley and Andrew. And grandfather to Ian, Rachel, Melanie and Timothy. To the rest of the extended family, he was a generous and respected figurehead of the Aussie branch of “the Clan”. A man of few vices, where the only thing sharper than his temper was his sometimes misunderstood sense of humour. He didn’t drink or smoke. He didn’t gamble of swear (except bloody). He didn’t womanise or waste his money But to try and understand Dad and why we admire him so, we probably need to look at his journey and where he came from:- A time and place where things were tough and there was no use complaining because there was always someone worse off than you – so you just got on with it! Born on the 1st of December 1920 in Hulme in the slums of Manchester England, the 6th child of 8. His father was ex-Royal navy and his mother hard at work bringing up the children. Dad was apparently a sickly child, expected to die as his sister above him did. The family moved from the city out into the countryside to Marple, near Stockport. Growing up in a big family with little money out in the country meant plenty of chores and the great outdoors. Chopping wood, running, cycling, rowing, poaching and guns. Leaving school at 14 years old in the middle of the “Great Depression”, Dad started odd-jobbing, doing all sorts to help support the family, eventually getting a job in a foundry working on the furnaces as Britain started gearing up for the inevitable 2nd World War. Although his job made him exempt from war duties and after a couples of attempts at signing up, he was finally enlisted in the Royal Navy as a DEMS gun layer (Defensive Equipped Merchant Ship) in 1941, spending most of his service in and around the Indian Ocean, 3 years in India, also Burma, South Africa, Persian Gulf, Perth, Adelaide – bringing the Aussie troops out of Singapore and the POWs from Changi back to Liverpool. The wartime stories that Dad regularly shared with us were mostly the fond memories of how much of a great adventure it all was and not of the hardships, misery and fear associated with war. Again it was his way, he said “you didn’t think about it, you just got on with it”. After the war, he completed his Bricklayer’s trade course and apprenticeship while getting on with the important business of courting Molly Ratcliffe and were married on the 30th of August 1947. Dad said that the first winter back home nearly killed him with the cold, that and (I think) having the travel bug, he was keen for more adventures and to immigrate. Saying that Winston Churchill said to him – “Don, you’ve done such a good job of defending the country, now go out and build up the Empire!”. Canada was too cold. He fancied South Africa but it was too expensive as he had to pay his own way and Australia was free to skilled trades, also he had 2 uncles and cousins here that would nominate them. So in 1949, they immigrated to Australia and eventually settled in Manly – “God’s country”. Working hard – Dad bricklaying and Mum nursing, they bought their first block of land at Collaroy Plateau, but when young Donny was born in 1953, they thought that it was a bit too isolated up there and sold it to buy a battle-axe block in Smith Street Manly, where he built a garage that they lived till he built the house. Along came Lesley and I, and as much as they loved their new house, Mum wasn’t completely settled there and spotted an old weatherboard house perched on a cliff above Manly Lagoon with plenty of potential. So in April 1965, we moved to Queenscliff and Dad started on the next major project – to completely rebuild everything on-site! Although he was working hard all hours – 7 days a week for years, he still found time for the important things in life:- Taking the family on many caravanning holidays and outingsConstantly and vigorously writing letters to “the family” (back home in England)And making a big thing out of any extended family members that came to visit It wasn’t until the late 70s and early 80s that he started to find a little time for himself – rediscovering his interest in guns and travelling overseas, joining both the Wakehurst Gun Club and the Antique Arms Society. Always committed to his work and secretly enjoying it, he didn’t feel the need to retire at the usual 65 years old or at least not until Mum did, instead he kept working on till he was 76! This didn’t give Mum and Dad a lot of time together, but they did enjoy the time they had before old age finally caught up with them. I feel very fortunate to have known Don Hines and I feel extremely proud to call him my father