“Thus humble let me live and die, Nor long for Midas’ golden touch; If Heaven more generous gifts deny, I shall not miss them much,— Too grateful for the blessing lent Of simple tastes and mind content!”
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So goes Oliver Wendell Holmes’ poem, ‘Contentment.’ Wendell Rosewarne was not a literary man but he loved the poem after being told of it by Steve Armstrong. Yes, it sums him up to a tee. We know now why his mother loved the name so much.
He was our Wendell, the only one in town. He could get away with calling the former Prime Minister Tony Abbott by his surname, as he did with most other people he knew. He had a nickname for everyone and a wealth of stories stored away in an encyclopaedic mind. He knew everyone’s intricate family links, especially where it concerned sport and carried a distinctive voice.
He was a fixture at every Australia Day, ANZAC Day and the Lilac Festival parades, always with faithful dog, Monty and later, Max.
His wiry, trim body, showing the ravages of time, carried him many miles in the name of charity. We won’t forget his tremendous contribution to Pollie Pedal, riding his trademark postie bike, and his commitment to fundraising for local causes. Like the late Allan ‘Jockey’ Rudd, he was Goulburn through and through.
Wendell was not one for show and did not seek plaudits.
“You have to be humble about a lot of things,” he told The Post in 2011.
All he wanted of his sporting collection was a room somewhere “so people could see how we played as teams not so long ago.”
He wore humility on his sleeve, borne of losing his father at a young age and being raised as a Legacy ward in a home with little spare money.
His passing on Monday night was not unexpected given his illness but we will miss him nonetheless.
We know that Mayor Bob Kirk, the council and his many sporting friends will honour him accordingly. Wendell faced his latest battle with typical grit. “I don’t give up and I don’t give in,” he said.
He told the Goulburn Post he was not afraid of dying and that it was good that people could celebrate his life in his final weeks rather than after he’d gone. At the wake, people might just say “I knew that old Wendell,” he told us.
Indeed we did, Wendell, and it was a great pleasure to do so. Go well.
Louise Thrower
If you have a story to tell, drop me a line at louise.thrower@austcommunitymedia.com.au or call 0418 229 678.
If you have a story to tell, drop me a line at louise.thrower@austcommunitymedia.com.au or call 0418 229 678.
