RAYMOND John Sirl died in Bega on May 8 after a nine and a half-year battle with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and was buried in the Bega cemetery on May 10.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ray was born in Bega on April 3, 1944, the son of Jess (nee Nolan) and the late Jim Sirl. His brother Brian, also of Bega, survives him.
Ray was educated at Bega Infants, Primary and High Schools and, as a young lad, spent many a day helping his father with the bullock team and splitting posts.
While still only a boy he experienced the tragedy of seeing his father killed by a falling tree while working with him in the bush on Dr George Mountain in July 1960.
At the age of 12 Ray was a fully trained bullock driver and while still at school had his own lawn mowing business servicing at times up to 80 clients.
After leaving school he was taken on by the late Percy Tetley as an apprentice builder.
As an apprentice Ray worked on the building of the Bega Swimming Pool where all the concrete was mixed by hand, and he matched it shovel for shovel with the men.
On Percy’s retirement, Ray worked for several builders and for a short time at Bega Joinery until, in 1968, he went into business on his own.
On March 23 of that same year he married his wife of 33 years, Joy Ford, in Bega.
Their union produced three children all of whom followed Ray’s footsteps into the building trade.
Kristen (27) has a Diploma in Architectural Drafting and a Diploma in Interior Design.
Roderick (25) gained s a Certificate in Shop-fitting and Detail Joinery and Michael (23) has a Certificate in Carpentry and Joinery.
In October 1970 Ray opened his own joinery shop complete with the best and most modern equipment of the day.
During more than three decades in business Ray had an apprentice in his shop every year until he became ill.
He also provided work experience opportunities for students from Narooma, Bega, Eden, Bombala High Schools and Hurlstone Park Agricultural College and was always willing to spend time with them explaining the finer points of joinery.
Ray was a genuine person who genuinely cared what happened to people and the environment.
People always found him to be the same sincere person, unaffected by his business success or his surroundings, always very approachable and interested in whatever he was asked or told.
Ray spent much of his time helping people in many ways, always at no cost to them but he was always very embarrassed when favours were returned.
He assisted many people around Australia when they were researching and writing books on the pioneering days in Australia.
The book, “Bullock Teams - The Building of a Nation” by the late Olaf Ruhen, a New Zealander, acknowledged photos provided by Ray who also assisted Olaf by checking and confirming that the expressions quoted in the book were correct. Ray also wrote at least half a chapter of the book and Olaf quoted him extensively throughout the book.
Ray was also able to answer many queries in Letters to the Editor of the Stockman’s Hall of Fame newspaper.
Throughout his life Ray always worked hard and was a perfectionist, an attribute that, without doubt, contributed to his success in whatever he set out to achieve.
He also had a great knowledge of timbers, the bush and the pioneer days and was always happy to share this knowledge.
During a Bega Festival he took groups through Bournda Park pointing out different trees and other items of interest.
He showed people how to select, sharpen and use an axe and finished up by boiling the billy and giving them a cuppa.
His knowledge of the bush was well recognised and on occasions he was called on to open related exhibitions - in 1993 a photographic exhibition “The Essence of the Outback” and in April 1996 the Bega Woodcraft Awards.
Ray was the youngest member of Bega Apex Club when he joined at age of 18 and in March 1984 he was recognised by Apex with life membership.
As an Apexian, Ray acknowledged that one of his most rewarding achievements was to organise the making and fitting of flyscreens on all windows and doors of the Bega District Hospital.
In 1982 he was a founding member of Australian Bullock Drivers League and, as a member, visited all states of Australia except the Northern Territory.
At the time of his death he was involved in planning the league’s 20th anniversary celebrations to be held next year in Bega and then in Gundagai where the inaugural meeting took place.
Until ill health forced his resignation Ray was a member of Bega Show Society and put in many hours with maintenance and repairs around the showground.
He also organised the erection of the caretaker’s residence and shop.
Before the 2001 Bega Show he installed a kitchen in the rotunda in his own time and free of charge, commenting at the time that “All women should have somewhere nice and clean where they can prepare a meal, no matter where it is”.
Ray was also a Bega Harness Club member.
For many years he gave demonstrations of post and sleeper cutting at local shows and heritage weekends and he also had displays of his vintage woodcutting equipment.
1n 1996 his efforts gained him the inaugural Award for Excellence from the Equestrian Federation of Australia (NSW) as the Pleasure Historic Endurance Driver of the Year.
AS the official caretaker of the Hacket Collection, Ray maintained and housed the old vehicles until they were transferred to the Bega Cheese Heritage Centre by the Bega Harness Club.
Ray had a very dry sense of humour and always a twinkle in his eye when telling a story.
“After you had a chat with Ray you would walk away feeling good. He was one in a million - a perfect gentleman,” one friend said.
As an avid collector of anything to do with the pioneering days in the Bega Valley, particularly timber getting, he established a magnificent collection of photographs and artefacts with two fully restored wagons having pride of place in the purpose-built storage shed.
He had a particular love of the James Bennett wagon, which he considered to be the Mercedes Benz of wagons.
He knew the name and the whereabouts of every James Bennett wagon housed in Australia.
His dedication to the collection gained him a reputation as an historian of bullocks and the old days and people rang him from all over Australia seeking information, photos, bullocks, wagons, drays as well as help and guidance in starting up a team including where to get bullocks from.
He even taught one man to get a team of bullocks up and going by phone, by giving him instruction in stages every few weeks.
He resumed working with bullocks in 1974 using a team owned by Bega identities Richard Otton and Jim Rixon.
From then on he maintained a team until the 1988 Bicentenary celebrations when he gave log-loading demonstrations at local shows, attended festivals, participated in street parades and visited schools throughout the State.
On November 29, 1986, Ray, with his team of 10 bullocks, was the last official transport to cross the old Tarraganda Bridge before it was officially closed.
Drought eventually forced him to sell his team.
Although he subsequently broke in and prepared several new teams he never again took them to parades as each time his team was ready his health deteriorated and he would sell them, only to start again when he went into remission.
At the time of his death he had six large Ayreshire bullocks broken in ready to work.
In 1959 Ray assisted his uncle Wally Sirl to walk Ray’s father’s bullock team to Nimmitabel for the film ‘The Sundowners’ and in 1979 Ray and Richard Otton took their team to Michelago for the filming of ‘My Brilliant Career’.
In the latter part of his all too short life, Ray’s approach to his illness was always positive and he continued working until his death.
“I’m not worrying, that’s what I pay the fellows in Canberra to do,” he used to say.
Raymond John Sirl was one of nature’s gentlemen and the world will be a poorer place for his passing.