He might have had a completely unremarkable name, but John Smith made a remarkable impact on the Nowra community.
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A bricklayer, builder, restaurateur and devoted family man, Mr Smith lost his battle with cancer on Tuesday, February 20, aged 69.
But he left behind a lasting legacy of homes, buildings and businesses that he built.
After growing up in Bermagui, Mr Smith moved to Nowra at the age of 18 to work on building Tallowa Dam.
In the following years Mr Smith met and married his wife Jillaine, who had moved from England with her parents in search of a better life.
He soon became involved in other building projects - from hundreds of homes over five decades to high profile structures including Nowra's National Australia Bank, St John's High School, and shops in Nowra and Bomaderry.
"We were always proud as kids growing up knowing he had built all these big places throughout town and the area," son Lucas said.
However his crowning glory was building and then running The Butter Factory Restaurant at Pyree.
Lucas recalled his father looking at what was then little more than a large, run-down barn filled with hay and animals including rats and snakes.
"Dad had the crazy idea, he said 'I'm going to turn that place into a restaurant', much to mum's horror, which he did, and it went off," Lucas recalled.
Others thought he was mad at the time.
"People would stop when he was doing the place up and say 'I've heard what you're doing and you're crazy'," Lucas said.
"It was a crazy idea, but dad had a lot of crazy ideas and he pulled them all off."
Mr Smith started building The Butter Factory in the late 1980s, and the restaurant quickly became a culinary hot spot after he opened it in 1990 - playing host to a range of politicians and celebrities.
Despite having no background in hospitality, Mr Smith successfully ran the award-winning restaurant for 10 years.
"Dad always said that his blood, sweat and tears went into The Butter Factory, and he always considered it his greatest accomplishment in life," Lucas recalled.
"The entire region has proudly enjoyed its success in one way or another, whether it was enjoying special moments with loved ones at a wedding or function, or even just a special private dining experience, The Butter Factory is a nostalgic and sentimental icon to the entire region and beyond," he added.
A gentle and generous man who always wanted to help anyone in need, and was always looking out for others, Mr Smith's main passion centred on family.
He and Jillaine had three children - Travis, Amanda, Lucas, along with extended family living nearby.
And the day he was diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer, the family got together and decided to fulfil one of Mr Smith's lifelong dreams, taking a trip to the Cook Islands.
Several family members also got together to help Mr Smith pursue one of his loves - riding motorbikes.
"All of a sudden he had this big group of boys biking with him, which was nice," Lucas said.
"Whenever dad was feeling up to it they'd go for trips to KV or down the coast to Mollymook - whatever dad could manage."
His love for automotive things extended to cars, and in recent times Mr Smith was restoring an old Ford Zephyr ute.
His last trip outside the home was to check on the Zephyr, and Lucas said friends and family members were working to have it finished an on the road for the funeral, when it will be used to carry the coffin.
That coffin has been made from wood Mr Smith had set aside.
"When dad got his diagnosis, he said he had been saving some special wood for his coffin, but we said it was way too soon to be talking like that," Lucas said.
That wood was given to one of Mr Smith's nephews, who is a builder and made "an amazing, rustic-looking coffin, just the way dad wanted", Lucas said.
Mr Smith is being farewelled during a funeral service at The Butter Factor at 11am on Friday, March 1.
