On the Grapevine

Known today as Bill, he was born on March 10, 1938, in the Dutch province of Brabant near the Belgian border.

Brought up on a dairy/mixed farm, Bill attended an all-boys Catholic school until leaving at the age of 15 to begin full-time farm work.

The youngest child of 13, Bill lost his mother when he was just three years old, and his father found himself in dire need of remarrying, finding a woman who also had several children of her own.

Bill’s dad share-farmed and leased additional land to successfully provide for the unusually large family.

In 1957, at age 19, the young Dutchman set off for Australia to join his brother Kees, who had arrived in 1953 and was share-farming at Poowong.

It was great for the brothers to work alongside each other, yet it was not long before Bill secured a position as a share-farmer and bought his own small herd of Friesians.

After meeting Mary in 1960, the couple married after a relatively short courtship and had five children.

Mary was also from a very large family and the fifth child in a family of 11 - two girls and nine boys.

The couple worked hard, milking cows and growing potatoes to provide their family a good life in Australia.

Mary became an Australian citizen when she was 18, together with her parents and siblings, while Bill received his citizenship some years later at Tooradin, near Koo Wee Rup.

Bill’s parents never visited Australia.

However he and Mary went back to Holland on five occasions. But after the first visit, he found it difficult to leave his family behind.

Yet, he never regretted the decision to immigrate to Australia.

Bill and Mary retired from dairy farming in the late 1980s and went to live in Pakenham before deciding to join golfing friends from Lang Lang who had moved to Barooga.

After a year or two helping run the friend’s motel, Bill and Mary took to the fairways at Cobram Barooga Golf Club; Bill several times a week and Mary twice each week.

“I had never seen a golf course until I came to Australia.”

“I loved my golf and the people I played with and remember playing one day with two chaps who both played from a handicap of six, while mine was 34 and after a few holes one of them said to me, ‘may I suggest you get some lessons’.”

“Playing with that same pair two years later, I beat them both and offered the same suggestion to them,” Bill laughed.

Bill, in fact, mostly played from a handicap of 14 and can lay claim that on one particular day, he won the CBGC B-grade Golf Championship in the morning and Barooga Bowls Club B-grade Championship in the afternoon.

What a day, what a champion.

Bill celebrated his 86th birthday last Sunday, and the octogenarian still plays nine holes once a week and, while not too happy with the lack of distance from his fairway shots, is grateful to be able to get out on the course.

“When we first arrived, the old course was the number one golf course on the Murray; today, it is 36 holes and still popular.”

“In regard to MMGCC, it’s a terrific group, and we have a lot of fun. We challenge one another, but we get on well; we are very lucky.”

Community-minded man-recognised with 65-year service medal

Just four weeks before he died, Adrian Thomas Doyle was honoured with the presentation of a 65-year service medal by the CFA.

CFA Commander Peter Bell presented the medal to his wife Faye and the couple’s family in his absence at the Cobram firehouse, where all the firefighters were present.

Regarded highly by everyone who knew him in the community and exhibiting rare dedication to the CFA over an amazing 67-year period, it has been an outstanding achievement.

To his fellow ‘firies’ he was always the same, affable and approachable person, who readily adapted to situations and could always be relied upon.

He became a mentor to newcomers and was always ready to lend a hand.

Being a volunteer at Cobram CFA, you do just that.

You volunteer, and there is no remuneration for risking your life every time you go out to a serious vehicle accident, fight a bushfire or house fire; you are there to control the situation.

To save lives, property, livestock and farming land, the ‘firies’ do what they can and more, at the risk of their own safety.

In the words of John Parnell, Cobram Brigade Support Officer and long-time friend of Adrian, “The CFA can overpower you at times, and it can draw you in and consume your life. You need an outlet.”

Adrian’s successful butchery business allowed him to help people daily, yet his wife Faye and four children provided the ultimate outlet.

With sons Michael, Andrew and Gavin, as well as daughter Nene, home and family provided a haven for him.

No matter how tired he may have been when arriving home after attending a call-out, it was a relief to walk into the house and hear the daily sounds of his family.

Adrian began his CFA career at Cobram in 1957 as a young lad before transferring to Myrtleford, where he worked for some years.

He later returned to his roots in Cobram, where he continued to show his strength and ability in various roles within the brigade.

These included apparatus officer from 1965-1968, brigade captain from 1972-1979 and communications officer from 1992-1999.

When he retired from active service he stayed in touch and became a regular visitor, often enjoying smoko at the firehouse with Joe Neuwirth and Ian Stroll, leading the way with some friendly banter to get the guys to bite.

At Adrian’s funeral at St Joseph’s Church on February 27, 2024, several hundred people attended to honour the popular man who had shown total commitment to his community.

In a huge show of respect for their valued CFA member, Cobram ‘firies’ kitted up in full dress uniforms and formed a guard of honour in front of the fire station before bringing the old vintage pumper to the church.

They then lifted the casket on board for their colleague’s ‘last ride’ to his final resting place at the Cobram Cemetery.

A life well lived, Adrian Doyle.