John Furner was born July 2, 1936, to Harold and Edith (nee Green) at the Maternity Hospital on Cromwell St, Cooma.
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He was third in a family of six children - Bernine, Jennifer (deceased) John, Deirdre, Rosalind, and Robert.
The family farmed at Bidgee and later moved into the township of Cooma. Edith was bequeathed an interest in the Daisybank property near Bemboka.
John first attended Cooma Primary School, and completed his education at Canberra Grammar.
He went on to Wagga Agriculture College to pursue his interest in farming.
He got his first job with the Department of Agriculture in Orange mainly in sheep farming.
In 1963 John left Orange and with his brother-in-law Bill Mach leased 440 acres of Edith’s farm Daisybank.
They also leased the adjoining property of Rockleigh and surrounding land totalling around 1800 acres.
John was the first to introduce a Friesian bull to the district to complement his Jersey herd.
With the impact of the 1968 drought, John and Bill elected not to renew their five year lease and John carried on with sheep and beef on the Rockleigh property.
He supplemented his income with casual work off-farm and later joined the Department of Agriculture Bega with its herd testing program.
John was a keen sportsman playing rugby and cricket at college and league, cricket and tennis at Bemboka and Candelo.
During John’s rugby league days, Bemboka dominated the district.
There is also a plaque on the wall at Bemboka Hotel for the year Bemboka won the cricket.
He captained one of the five tennis teams to represent the local area at the 1979 Country Week of Tennis at White City, Sydney.
A motor vehicle accident in August 1980 was to change John’s life forever.
On the way home from work his four wheel drive soft-top vehicle was blown off the road, with the driver’s seat breaking away from the frame when he was upside down.
He was pinned in that position overnight and was conveyed to Bega Hospital early next morning and immediately transferred to the Royal North Shore spinal unit.
With fractured C3/4 vertebrae, John was to live with quadriplegia for the next 34 years.
He was never bitter about the accident, always positive and living life to the full.
When John returned to the Valley, he spent eight years in Bega District Hospital until he was able to secure his own premises in Carp St. Modification to the building allowed John to live in his own home and be cared for by his own staff and members of the Home Care Service.
John participated in the local community and served on the boards of Tulgeen Disability Services, Bega District Hospital and was a councillor on the Shire Council.
He travelled to Sydney once a quarter to serve on the State Disability Council for a number of years.
John loved his time as an Apexian at Candelo and went on to join Probus and maintained contact with his community.
He purchased a dairy farm at Cobargo and with a manager produced milk for the Bega Co-operative.
This dairy and the farm at Rockleigh gave John great satisfaction and an opportunity to utilise his farming and business skills and maintain his independence of government assistance.
An invitation to Bernine’s son’s wedding in England provided the opportunity for John to make his first overseas trip.
Qantas was very helpful in transporting John’s wheelchair, lifter and ramps and together with a carer he was off overseas.
On another occasion in 1992 John’s brother-in-law Bill Mach and Ruth Gowing took John to Bill’s homeland, the Czech Republic.
They also toured Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy and Austria.
When in Cannes they broke the car aerial and John went off in search of a hardware store.
He noticed a long nail on the footpath and tried to get the locals to pick it up for him.
Unable to understand English they took his shoe and sock off.
He never did get that nail and they had to drive several kilometres to a self-service hardware store to get the required nail.
In Siena, Italy there was no wheelchair access to the local cathedral so Bill and Ruth left John in his chair outside, as it was hot they put his hat on his lap.
Passing locals keep putting money in his hat much to John’s embarrassment.
His Bega home was open house at all times.
Whenever locals were in town they would drop around for a cuppa.
John was a wealth of information and was always on for a chat.
Family members were always welcome and he had regular visits from his sisters in England and interstate and would look forward to visits from his nieces and nephews.
When electric typewriters were invented, Remington donated a brand new one for John’s use.
With his mouth stick he was able to compile a letter and post off to his family.
With the advent of computers, emails and the internet, John had access to the world.
John enrolled in a university degree through the local campus of University of Wollongong and was able to download and listen to the lecture notes, as well as attending class lessons at the local campus.
He enjoyed this contact and had a thirst for greater knowledge.
John had many care support staff over a 25-year period between his staff and those of the Home Care Service, none greater than Jan Rootsey who cared for John over a 21-year period.
Each weekend Jan would move into John’s house, take him on a Sunday drive to all parts of the Valley and even back to his birthplace at Cooma.
She was with him all the way and by his side as he left this world.
Thanks Jan and to those who provided care to help John lead the life he chose.
