By JESSE GRAHAM
Pop (Graham Hill) was many things to many different people…
PEOPLE are often measured by the impact they have had on others throughout their life – by that measure, Graham Clive Hill has been remembered as a great man.
Graham, who through his time was a truck driver, logger, business-owner, farmer, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and husband, was farewelled by around 300 people last week.
Family, friends and colleagues gathered at Heritage and Heritage Funerals on Tuesday 14 October to farewell Graham, with many paying tribute to the man they grew up with, worked with and loved.
Described as a hard-working and resilient man, Graham Hill was born at the Lilydale Bush Nursing Hospital on 30 January 1937, and the Yarra Valley became his life-long home.
Riding a horse to Yering Primary School from his family’s property each day, he was described by his family as a country boy, through-and-through.
That continued to be the case after finishing at Lilydale High School, when Graham made a living driving logging trucks, later going on to own a sawmill in Healesville and Tub Creek.
Throughout Graham’s life, he established a concrete-business in Healesville and Woori Yallock, tried his hand at logging, got his pilot’s license and became a black angus cattle farmer.
By the time he retired, Graham was known as a significant employer of people in the town, and was passionate about his town and the timber industry.
His daughter Lisa said that he had enormous support from his wife of 54 years, Annette, whom he married on 20 December 1958 at Healesville’s Methodist Church.
Annette and Graham had four children together: Lisa, Jayne, Joanne and Andrew, and became grandparents to Kelly, Bradley, Michael, Lachie, Jade, Zachary, Jessica and Troy; and great-grandparents to Finn and Jai.
His family said that Graham had been living with a number of cancers for around 18 years, and that he fought every step of the way, outliving an original five-year diagnosis from doctors.
“He’d been sick for a long time, but he had fought and fought and fought many illnesses, right up until the end,” Lisa said.
“He did not want to die, for any other reason than he loved life.”
Graham died on Monday 6 October 2014.
His daughter Jayne gave a powerful tribute at his funeral, and said her favourite thing about her father was the talks they had together.
She said that, during his treatments at Epworth Eastern, the two of them would take walks together and chat in the ‘sacred space’ at the hospital.
“This, of course, led to many chats about the truth and existence of God and heaven and the afterlife,” Jayne said.
“Dad and I always concluded that it didn’t matter if it was true or not, but rather that the peace offered to us by the little room and the sharing of a little verse or prayer was enough for us both.”
Jayne said that, if heaven was real, Graham would have received front-row seats, and the job of head of maintenance and repairs of the heavenly pastures with pliers and a roll of wire.
“Because the good Lord, like many of us here, knows that our dad could fix anything with a pair of fencing pliers and a roll of wire.”
Friends and family spoke in turn about their experiences with Graham and the impact he had on their lives, before a funeral procession – led by Steve and Jacqui Comman’s logging truck – took Graham’s coffin to Healesville Cemetery.
Granddaughter Jade Deglatis read this poem – Our Pop – to describe Graham Hill:
Our Pop wasn’t a superhero, but he helped us all through many different situations.
Our Pop wasn’t an astronaut, but could fly an airplane through the Yarra Valley.
Our Pop wasn’t a knight in shining armour, but he was a watcher, a guardian and a protector of our family.
Our Pop was a farmer,
He was a tough, hardworking and dedicated man.
Our Pop was a father,
He was a teacher, a listener and a loving man.
Our Pop was a boss,
He was a fair, honest and ambitious man.
Our Pop was a friend,
He was a loyal, giving and a selfless man.
Our Pop was many things, to many different people.
To me, he was the most special man I have, and am ever likely to meet again.
