John Edward (K/A Jack) O'Sullivan's memory board

John (Jack) O’Sullivan Eulogy Delivered by Grant O’Sullivan 9th January 2017 Hello. As I stand here, I see my Mum, Jean, my sisters Glenda and Barbara, our children and their families. I see our relatives and friends of our families that have come to be here for our Dad and us as a family. I am humbled and quite frankly impressed at this and thank you for making the effort. I can speak confidently for my whole family when I say, when I think of how Dad touched our lives, the first word that comes to mind is “admiration”. This old man deserves a good send off and a crowd….so thank you for coming. Dad passed away last Tuesday he was 3 months shy of 101, therefore there is a lot to cover in this eulogy. However, for a few reasons such as many of you hearing Dad give his own life story at his 100th birthday last April….and some of you hearing at least from me…..the many stories about my dad, I will keep this relatively short. More details of dad’s life history can be seen on the Heaven Address website – details on back of your booklet. I would like to share with you the things that happened in dad’s life that made him 1. the most devoted husband and family man imaginable. 2. A man who earnt the respect of all who met him and was admired greatly by his family and those close to him. 3. A man who always had an eye on providing for the future, 4. who fully committed to anything he got involved in, 5. who used his humour and wit to great effect and 6. who lived and breathed positivity. Dad used to tell me that if you took away from a funeral the best about the person, you in turn became a better person. That is my hope today. For you to take something away from dad’s long life, that hopefully will have a lasting positive impact on how you live your life. Dad would like that. First and foremost was his love and commitment for our mum, Jean. And not just marital commitment. He was committed to making her HAPPY and Cared for. If it was important to her, it BECAME important to him. They were happily married for 73 ½ years, and was the case throughout Dad’s life, during his last days, his only concern was for mum’s well being, and not his own impending mortality. • FAMILY - Dads early life experiences that shaped an absolute commitment to family. o Born 1916 to Michael and Sarah O’Sullivan, oldest in family of 7 (2 girls, 5 boys – Mick, Mary, Jim, Julie, Pat and Tom all who are deceased o Times were tough. Before electricity, before running water, before flushing toilets, worked hard, milked cows for milk, cut wood for warmth – Early life revolved around family pulling together to survive through really tough times and entertaining themselves through humour. o He had a good relationship with his 4 brothers and 2 sisters throughout their lives and caught up with them regularly and particularly on their father’s birthday in Manjimup every May. o Fortnightly beers – listening to them take the piss through the sleepout window.  Story -Dad and his brothers (all over 6 foot) walking in to hotel, and their Dad announcing that ‘anyone have an objection come and see him now’. o 3 of his brothers and 1 sister were involved in the 2nd world war and all survived. (Tom too young and would have gone , and Mary stayed home to look after Grandad because their mother had passed away just as the war broke out). o Imagine what it would be like to be involved in a war from the age of 23 for 6 years that we didn’t look like we would win and then when we do defeat Germany to have our own country attacked by a new enemy, the Japanese. This must shape your views on providing for the future, being thankful, living in the moment, being positive and cherishing your family. o Dad committed fully to Mum who left her homeland of Scotland during the war in 1943 at such an early age to go to an unknown country. He respected that she had to resettle during the war in Manjimup without Dad being with her for nearly 2 years. A short period of 3 months was all they had between their wedding to when Dad was shipped / redirected away and didn’t properly meet again until after the war in late 1945  Story – Dad forgetting Mum’s Scottish accent when they reunited  Always a beer for family – Magic fridge • PROVIDING FOR THE FUTRE o Dads life was all about ‘providing for the future’.  Sent half his pay back to family during the war whilst others Dad would say would be ‘pissing it up against the wall’. He certainly didn’t go without a drink during the war….just had ½ as much as the others o Throughout his police service he did ‘specials’, supplement what was a relatively modest income. o He thrived on anything that involved hard physical work. He believed that if you just kept moving, kept physical, it would pay dividends. Which it did in Dad’s case. o He believed there should be no waste in anything, food, items etc. He was the true recycler.  Hold up axe cover. This was once a table, a shelf in his shed, dad’s belt, flashing from the roof at Floreat and now a handy cover for an axe  Master at making something simple complicated o Nothing made him happier than being able to gift something to someone else and it being recycled in this way. Everything was to be used by someone.  Story – there is a couple of bags of clothes, slippers and the odd banana in the car outside if anyone is interested. • FULL COMMITMENT o Dads work,  As a sleeper turner on peace money (7 pence per load of 100 sleepers) dad fully committed to turning the most he could. One was his love of hard work, two was his competitiveness and I’m sure the more you turned the more you earnt helped his commitment also. o Police - he was obviously a good policeman over his 31 years of service as was given the chance to create the missing persons bureau in 1961. He headed this up through to his retirement in 1976. o Committed to sports he loved.  Footy – he was a good footballer played for the Manjimup Imperials and represented the South West in the combined team in 1936 aged 20.  Very proud that he again made a combined team when he was in Albany after the war in 1951 aged 35.  Bowls – Singles champion Floreat BC. Represented WA through the Police Bowling Club. And made a life member of Floreat BC in 1992  RSL – Heavily involved in raising money for Legacy every Remembrance Day. Did this every year until physically he could no longer do this. He created museum displays in a range of army museums in WA. Made a life member of RSL 1997 and a life member of the Royal Australian Engineers Forestry Company 1999  Football – Evans junior football. Managed many of Evan’s teams and was made a life member of Claremont Junior Football Assoc in 1971.  He would have got involved in Barb and Glenda’s sport if they had played football, and my football if I was any good at it. He did get involved in my little athletics. o His own physical fitness. 100% committed to it. Whether it was riding his bike, swimming at City Beach, swinging and axe while we were renovating my home, exercising every morning at St Ives. o Mantra - If it is to be, it is up to me • USE OF HUMOUR AND HIS WIT o Anyone whoever met Dad was drawn by his charisma, his wit and his cheekiness. This got him a long way. Coupled with bluff Dad was able to be seen as a far more senior policeman than his rank was.  Story – Inspectors saluting Dad when he was only a Constable!  Story - Dad getting busted at Bunnings with washes in his pocket. When told to return he said his big ears were just for show  Story – After initial training to be a policeman in 1945, was put on duty – called 2 trams on whilst positioning himself between them both.  Story – Beaufort Street arrest, moving the person to James st.  Pigeon English in UK  Hugh – Charlie  Evan got him back – Asylum arrest • POSITIVITY o Dad lived by the mantra that it is better to look out the windscreen than the rear view mirror. o Didn’t dwell on past. o Separated work from family life.  One Sunday left family lunch to identify a missing person, inform their parents, attend an autopsy and return home to the family…us being none the wiser o Threw himself in to any things his children were involved in. Their homes, their lives, their children….even their friends.  Story – Teaching kids to drive  Story – Couldn’t teach mum to drive. He really wanted mum to learn to drive even though she didn’t want to. He was positive this would be a good thing for her. When she reversed in to the letterbox, instead of persisting, he just moved the letterbox to the middle of the lawn.  Story – final Xmas day. My sparkling moment is right now, I am here with you all now…today. As a family, we couldn’t have been prouder to call this old man our Husband, our Dad, Grandad, Pa. He was a big man both physically and as a personality. He leaves a positive impact on so many of us. Dad would love to think that you may take something away today that centres around  Commit to your family  Provide for your Future through hard work  Fully commit to anything you choose to be involved in.  See the lighter side of things and use humour to diffuse difficult situations.  Be positive and love the moment you are in. Many of you here will miss his wise advice, his playfulness and his warmth My mother will miss having her best friend by her side As a family we will miss our father, the source of our convictions. I will miss a mate and my inspiration Faerwell to a great man who lived a long and good life