THE ashes of outgoing Marine Rescue Narooma commander John Young were scattered in the ocean about 3 nautical miles out in front of the headquarters on Saturday.
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John’s family was taken out on the Narooma rescue vessel NA30, recently renamed the RV John Young in his honour, with the unit’s Jet-skis following behind.
His wife Ronja said it was a beautiful trip and John would have been pleased with his final resting place in the ocean.
“Out there he will be able to keep an eye on these guys and make sure they are doing the right thing,” she said.
John was honoured with the renaming of the rescue vessel on June 26 and the following Saturday, he and Ronja were taken out for one final trip around Montague Island.
He died at home a couple a few weeks later and his funeral ceremony took place at Broulee last Tuesday.
New Marine Rescue Narooma Commander Eric Hibbett said his career culminated in winning both the 2014 NSW Volunteer of the Year for the South Coast and Southern Inland region and Adult Volunteer awards.
John brought a wealth of experience to the unit since joining in September 2010, he said.
“Since that time he has been involved in a number of disciplines within the unit having been boat crew, coxswain, then a Master 5 as well as being a radio operator/watch officer and trainer and assessor, plus an all-round good `bloke’ and finally the unit commander,” he said.
“In the latter position he generated an excellent rapport with the surrounding units while being the quiet achiever within his own; he was also not adverse to involvement in fund-raising, being a regular `sausage sizzler’ and raffle ticket seller.
“It has been a special privilege to know Young John and I will hopefully maintain the standard of leadership he has shown even in the face of his own adversity, which he bore with dignity; showing us all the meaning of great courage and great fortitude.”
The Eulogy
Here is the eulogy as prepared and read by celebrant Cathy Milliken:
John James Young was born on the 6th of November 1950 in Wollongong to mother Lucetta May and Father John Stowell Young.
He was the younger brother of Barry Leonard Young. He was husband to Reinhilde (aka Ronja) Howe and father to Rene, Sandra and Johnny. He was grandfather to Jamie-Lee, Corey, Natasha, Piper and Jordan.
John was a happy child who was always singing. It wasn’t hard to know where he was, you just followed the sound, or should I say noise, to know he wasn’t too far away.
He was a bright student, the teacher said he could do anything he wanted to do in life, but his passion for motor vehicles drew him to his first employment at Pember’s garage where he started out in the spare parts department, until he got his apprenticeship at Oak Flats service station.
He had a love of the ocean. He spent any spare time he had out there, whether it was fishing, scuba diving, canoeing, boating or even just swimming, you would always find him somewhere out there.
He volunteered with the Wollongong Coast Guard in the 70’s and 80’s as well as the local police boys club as a diving instructor. He taught many young people how to scuba dive, keeping them off the street.
After working at a number of automotive workshops he took on a job at Ireland Bros as a marine mechanic, later purchasing the business and changing the name to Five Islands Sail & Marine. He bought the business with the desire of it being a family business, in which his children and partners all worked there at some time.
During his 20 years in business he was also passing on his skills, employing apprentices and teaching at TAFE.
After selling the business, John and Ronja moved to the Far South Coast to Bodalla to live with his mother Lucetta, where John turned his attention to the local Marine Rescue unit in Narooma.
It didn’t take long for John to show his leadership abilities and he soon became the unit commander. With his lifelong involvement with volunteering, he was awarded the Southern Region volunteer of the year award, and nominated for the New South Wales Volunteer of the year.
He achieved a lot in a short time and forged many lifelong friendships.
John had many interests and hobbies.
He was a man that was not able to sit and do nothing. He had a love for gardening and growing vegetables.
His yard at Oak Flats was half divided into garden beds. After moving to Bodalla and no longer having the business, his love of gardening was able to blossom.
He built a greenhouse and hot house and spent plenty of his time in there. He was on his way to being self-sufficient.
After retiring from the marine industry the word soon got out in Bodalla that there was a new man in town that knew something about boats.
Soon afterwards there were more boats in the yard than what they had in their business.
He once commented, “Who said retirement was supposed to be relaxing, I have never been so busy”
John also enjoyed cycling, often doing this with his kids and friends. He completed many endurance rides raising money for MS, once riding from Brisbane to Sydney.
He said it was more like a pub crawl on push bike, drinking some of the small towns dry.
He often took the kids and friends camping and fishing up Tallowa Dam, near Kangaroo Valley.
They would paddle for hours up the river and set up camp. One time they were up the river and ran out of alcohol.
After blaming Rhonda Barry for leaving a cask of port behind in the car, they set out on a night time paddle back to retrieve the alcohol. It was that dark they couldn’t see in front of themselves. They had to sing while paddling down the river so they knew where each other was. The things they do for alcohol.
With a love of the odd drink here and there he started making his home brew, a legacy his son Johnny will hopefully continue.
John was the type of man that would come home from work but still have time for his kids.
He often played games with the kids and their friends in the yard. He would often wrestle with the kids in the lounge room with Ronja saying, “Stop it or someone will get hurt”.
Sure enough someone always did. An example of this was when he and Johnny were wrestling and Johnny fell on him, breaking his ribs.
After taking a number of overseas holidays, John and Ronja invested in timeshare with the intention of having annual family holidays with his mother Lucetta, the kids and grandkids.
They visited destinations such as Fiji, New Zealand, Tasmania, Ballarat, Queensland and Port Macquarie. John fell in love with Fiji and travelled there almost every year. He developed a friendship with a local taxi driver, visiting his home and spending time with the family.
John would often send things over to help them, he was always thoughtful to those less fortunate.
John battled cancer for three years, losing his arm and shoulder. This did not slow him down or stop him from doing the things he loved.
He continued with the Marine Rescue unit, still captaining the boat on rescues. The unit recognised his continuing involvement by naming the new boat, which he was instrumental in obtaining, in his honour.
The guard of honour today also shows how much he was admired.
John, with the help of wife Ronja, made a device which allowed him to continue fishing, most of the time still catching the biggest fish. If any task was difficult to do, he overcame it and created a new way to get the job done.
John had an infectious personality and throughout his life he made a lot of friends, most of which are here today, some travelling far or cutting holidays short to remember him.
He was the type of man who no matter what was happening to him, he never complained. He continued with living life to the fullest. He will be missed but never forgotten.
