A fond farewell

Guard of Honour salutes as the Illawarra bids farewell to Ray Wetherall, one of its great Champions of the Common Man

WHEN Ray Wetherall died last week, not only Port Kembla, but the whole of the Illawarra lost one of its great champions according to Wollongong City Councillor, Zeki Essen.

Ray dedicated his life to the community, said Mr Essen.

He once said to me, Youve got to love people to serve them, and I love people.

And people loved him in return.

He was like a real brother to me and so many others in Port Kembla.

He was always there for us.

Kids loved him too and loved being around him.

He was a rare man with a great understanding of people.

His door was always open, he had a way of relaxing you in his company and you could trust him to do whatever he said he was going to do.

I think the greatest tribute we can pay him is to try to keep on doing what he has been doing for the community for the past 50 years.

Ray Wetherall has been described variously as fiercely intelligent, humorous, courageous, trustworthy, dedicated, unwaivering, charismatic, electric, compassionate and energetic and Shellharbour City Mayor David Hamilton described him as a fantastic bloke.

He was a really up front man, and a champion for so many causes, said Cr Hamilton.

I met Ray when I joined the ALP and have enjoyed his friendship since 1969.

Once he was committed to a cause or an issue he never waivered.

You could always count on him and people really respected him.

Manager of Port Kembla RSL Club, said Ray Wetherall was irreplaceable both at the RSL Club and in the Port Kembla community.

The work he has done for the area is unbelievable, said Mr Martin.

He was always there to help and he fought hard for everything.

School kids and senior citizens and people from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds all benefited from Rays energy and commitment to the community.

Ray Wetheralls list of credits is far too lengthy to list here but amongst them are the Order of Australia, Chairman of the Illawarra Council, Deputy Lord Mayor of Wollongong, President of the Registered Clubs Association, President of Port Kembla RSL and President of Port Kembla Chamber of Commerce.

In more recent times, Ray Wetherall was also known for his work in uniting the Turkish and Australian communities through the Friendship for Life ceremony first held at Port Kembla on ANZAC Day 2005, where both Australian and Turkish flags were flown at half mast together as a sign of respect for the fallen soldiers on both sides.

Founder of Friendship for Life, Songul Demirci, said when she first handed the proposal for the ceremony to Ray Wetherall he was really eager to bring it together and make sure it was done right.

As with a lot of things that Ray was involved in, our first meeting started with a joke, but that didnt mean he wasnt taking it seriously.

He was so supportive and worked tirelessly to make sure everything went smoothly.

The Turkish community has lost a great man.

He was a courageous man and he was like a father to me.

He taught me so much about being a human being.

The turn out at his funeral was testimony to the high level of respect in which he was held by so many different parts of the community.

Zeki Essen perhaps said it best when he commented that for Ray Wetherall, the time was not enough for him.

He had so much more that he still wanted to do.

He could never see an end to his work for the community.

One thing is for certain and that is there are few men like Ray Wetherall and he will be greatly missed by everyone.

People came from as far away as Western Australia and the Turkish Consul sent two representatives of the Turkish Government to pay their respects.

Rays son, Terry Wetherall said that growing up with his father made for a very interesting life.

He gave a lot of his time to the community, Terry said.

He was a very active man and spent a lot of time outside the home.

But he was also a real family man.

He absolutely adored his three grand children and they adored him.

As a family, we are extremely proud of him and his achievements.

For many, he was the absolute model of what a community minded person should be.