It is with sorrow we report the passing on Saturday, of Bill White after a courageous battle with an aggressive form of cancer.
Bill was the former owner of No 8 Mount Spec Road and was a regular weekend visitor. It was always a pleasure to be in his company, enjoying his good humour and interesting anecdotes. He will be sadly missed by his many friends in and around the village.
Our condolences and loving thoughts go out to Carol and the family.
Rest In Peace, Bill.
Colwyn Campbell
Sue Rimington passed away in May this year. She and her husband (Dr. Ron Rimington) owned the house opposite the old police station, which they built around 1984 using the same local builder (John Grail) who built Nick and Glenda Van Rynswood’s house. The Rimington family used to come up to relax on weekends occasionally and to enjoy the cooler weather. They loved nature and gardening. Dr. Rimington’s association with Paluma possibly began with his Army Reserves service in the 60’s -70’s exercising in Paluma area.
Sue was a gentle, quietly spoken lady who dearly loved flowers and gardening. Her interest in flowers got her involved in fund raising charity events and became a key person in the flower fantasies these fundraising events required. After Ron’s death in 1998, Sue moved to Brisbane.
The Rimingtons were members of the Paluma Progress Association and well known in the Community. Their daughter and husband (Robyne and David Maguire) owned a block of land at the end of Hussey Road opposite Browne’s property . Doc as we called him used to go out there and plant cardamom and they had some fruit trees.
One story I was told was that Doc one day went out on the block to pick a box fruit, stopping to go home for lunch. On returning he found the fruit out of the boxes onto ground. He was quite puzzled by this but did not have to wait long before out came the culprit – a cassowary.
Sue’s early life was spent in the suburb of Camberwell in Melbourne and then Camperdown Victoria where her father was in a furniture business. She went to primary and early secondary school in Camperdown before going to boarding school at Methodist Ladies College in Melbourne for her senior years.
Sue’s career was in nursing at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Melbourne was where she met and married her husband Ron and from here they both moved to Townsville so Ron could take up a medical position at the Townsville General Hospital. Townsville is where they based their next 50 years. They had three children, Scott, Robyne and Mignonne.
Sue had many interests too numerous to mention but a couple come to mind one being how she started a home decorating business and her logo was a large snail with the wording “Is your home getting on your back”. The other one was later in life turning to painting and developed a style which seemed to be an extension of her real flair for colour.
She spent her last 20 years in Brisbane surrounded by a large and loving family whom she adored. Her grandchildren and great grandchild have many wonderful memories to pass onto their children in the future.
I gathered some of this information from family and what I knew myself of Ron and Sue as Ron was my boss at the Commonwealth Pathology Laboratory and James and I became very close friends with them over many years.
Always remembered,
Trish and James Jackson
Kelly Davis was a good friend of Dorothy’s and mine. His cheerful, friendly, generous nature was infectious.
We had many wonderful holidays and fun times together; trekking, skiing, fishing, golfing, and playing snooker, all of that Kelly excelled at, leaving me in his wake despite my baulking and razzing.
Kelly’s extensive knowledge of fauna and flora enlightened and enthused our interest in the natural wonderland around Paluma.
Strong physically and in character, Kelly approached all difficulties pragmatically, applying his many skills and practical knowledge to problem solving, and generously helping others with advice and assistance when required. Building many verandas in Paluma, including ours, Kelly started “veranda envy” in Paluma.
At Paluma Dorothy and I will sit at our “Kelly made” beautiful red stringy bark table on our “Kelly made” veranda and sadly, but fondly reflect the wonderful, inspiring impact Kelly has had on our lives.
Dorothy and Peter Klumpp
It is with sorrow that we report the passing of long time Paluma resident, Kelly Davis. He died on 5th June after battling an aggressive illness.
Kelly was an active member of the Paluma community, generous with his help and expertise in many areas, from repairing a broken rocking chair to building a veranda, clearing fallen trees and debris from properties after cyclone damage, to helping dig a garden bed. He was tireless in his assistance to Len at the annual Anagama kiln firing: cutting and stacking timber for the fire and helping to monitor the kiln temperature for the four or five days of the operation. In everything he did, Kelly was attentive and thorough. There are very few gardens that do not have bulbs donated from Kelly’s garden and many of us benefitted from the produce from his very successful fruit and vegetable plots.
Before coming to Paluma Kelly had lived in Mount Isa where he was employed by Mt Isa Mines and worked as a powder monkey, deep underground. He and his family moved to Forest Beach where Kelly worked on line maintenance for Victoria Sugar Mill in Ingham.
Kelly came to Paluma in 1987, where with his then wife Carol, he owned and operated the very popular Ivy Cottage tea room. The business was sold in 1989 to Ann and Andy Bishop. Kelly worked in a variety of roles for Townsville City Council and then for National Parks until his retirement.
Retirement did not slow him down however: he just spent more time helping people with various projects, and indulging in his passions for gardening, traveling, wood-turning, (many will have seen his beautiful wooden bowls), and fossicking. Kelly also had an interest in quality wines and over the years built quite a collection, stored in the cellar he built beneath his house.
Kelly was a keen traveller, always interested in other countries and other cultures and learning about their history. As well as travelling extensively within Australia, his many travels included voyages to Antarctica and the Arctic Circle, Europe, USA, the Scandinavian countries and most recently France, in late 2019.
The Paluma community will greatly miss Kelly. Our condolences go to Kelly’s family and to Elizabeth and Marilyn in the loss of a person so dear to them all.
Colwyn Campbell
It is with great sorrow that we report the passing of Kelly Davis, a long-time Paluma resident and active member of the community. Kelly passed away last Friday night. Kelly’s long association with Paluma, and the various roles and friendships he established here warrant a more detailed tribute. My most recent memories of Kelly come from recent Anagama firings at Len Cook’s kiln where he spend nightly vigils stoking the furnace and monitoring firing temperatures. But there is much more to tell about this man, so please email me (j.k.oliver@outlook.com) if you have any other information or anecdotes so that his contributions can be fully acknowledged in a separate post.
The Basque Man of Paluma and District.
A long-time resident of both Paluma and Hidden Valley, Manuel Larrinaga, died on 10th May 2018, aged 69 years, after 3 months of acute cancer illness.
Manuel was born a Basque, within the spanish Francoist fascist State in 1949, into a family of long-established farmers just outside Guernica in the Basque Country, the site of the 26 April 1937 infamous Hitler/ Franco atrocity during the Spanish Civil War. (The subject of Picasso’s famous painting entitled “ Guernika” of the same year – see Wikipedia).
Manuel was one of 11 children, some of whom still live on the family farm, including Luciano, his elder brother with whom he fled to Australia, as a refugee, aged 16, to escape forced conscription into Franco’s army, which was yet another attempt by the The Fascist Dictator to suppress the Basque Culture which has a feisty independent democratic tradition going back several centuries!
Franco’s death in 1975 was marked in Guernica with great joy. Manuel, who covertly returned to Guernica for the expected occasion, would often recount how free refreshments flowed like water for days in Guernica in celebration of the Fascist Dictator’s demise, such was the not – forgotten Basque revulsion over his crimes. (google “ Guernika”)
Manuel himself passionately hated Franco, accusing him of thwarting his plans to become a Vet! Instead Manuel followed a life of very hard labour in the cane fields of NQ and construction work in Mt Isa and elsewhere in NQ from age 16 until he died 53 years later.
Manuel was a member of a cane- cutting gang established by Luciano in Ingham. He had to harden up from a wanna- be Vet student and despite weeping every night for two years from the painful consequences of manual cane cutting he became a very tough man excelling in Boxing and being a renowned hard manual worker , as well as a spell as a Pub bouncer keeping order among the thirsty cane cutters. Ingham Police dubbed him “The Bullfighter” while others called him “The Basque Terrorist”, titles Manuel proudly proclaimed!
The reality was that Manuel was a bit of a “softie” when it came to helping the less- fortunate. He also had strong views about injustice .
In 1976 he worked for Simon Carves Ltd in Mt. Isa in a multi-national gang constructing the famous smelter Smoke Stack during which time he was the macho man riding the crane loads as a rigger to the top of the stack as it rose to its 270 Metre height. His stories of pranks and escapades without safety harnesses on high were blood chilling and often led to acute anxiety attacks amongst the Health & Safety ground staff.
In 1978 he met Judy, his life partner of nearly 40 years and they ultimately moved to live firstly at Hidden Valley and subsequently to the Republic of Hussey Road where Manuel constructed a large “Yurt” for Judy (a large Decagon house of stringy bark slabs cut by Manuel) which he subsequently re-erected at Hidden Valley, near the Furber Homestead, after adding two wings…it is an impressive example of Australian Bush architecture which will some day end up in a glossy coffee table book on vernacular buildings of OZ.
Indeed, Many of his structures can be seen around our District. Manuel was an artiste with a chain saw and he could perform miracles with his “Skyhook” chain block and his trusty shovel severely worn down by the digging of numerous postholes over many years! Manuel produced a number of stringy bark slab tables which are memorials to his skill and labours in the forests around Paluma- Blackfriars – Mt Zero as a timber cutter and Mill worker with Mr. R. Brookes esq. (who can forget their red hair dye period?)
Manuel’s legacy is around us for all to see…including the Andree Griffin Walking Track sign and the “Trees in Memory ” slab both voluntarily erected by him.
No story about Manuel’s life is complete without mentioning his valiant attempts to conquer the English language! He could construct alleged English sentences and adapt words so that they were but a shadow of their intended meaning but still understandable with a little prodding, poking and requests for repetition from those of us who could not understand a single word of the truly ancient Basque Language. (Please note : not Spanish!)
Indeed, it has been suggested that Manuel communicated in Basque with an Australian accent! a very endearing aspect of his personality and perfectly understandable when one considers that his English language academy was the cane paddocks of Ingham where the tutors spoke only Basque, Spanish, Italian , Sicilian , Serbian , Croat and Irish!
His persona of a tough hard- working battler remain in the memories of those who knew him, especially the super-critical working people of The Valley who were in awe of his prodigious work ethic and physical toughness.
May his memory be long respected in this District as one of those many oppressed refugees who have made a huge contribution to our present day Australian Culture .
Michael Drew
It is with sorrow that we report the passing of former Paluma resident, Jean Garrett on Christmas Day, 2019 after a long illness.
Jean had a long association with Paluma, visiting the village regularly from the time she was a teenager, coming on a motor cycle with her then boyfriend, Graham. They married in Perth, when Jean was 16, returning to Townsville soon after, and had a long and happy marriage.
Jean supported her husband’s enthusiasm for Speedway Side-car racing and over many years they travelled to many destinations to speedway meetings around the country with their children. They were a popular couple around the speedway, with many long-term friends.
Jean was a very capable woman with numerous other interests, especially within the Arts. She and Graham owned The Palms Art Gallery in Townsville, from which they also ran a framing business. Jean had a fine collection of porcelain, sculpture and prints. Jean was also a keen gardener. An absorbing interest was jewellery-making, at which she was very talented, creating unique and lovely pieces in her studio at their home. Jean’sjewellery was in demand at craft shops and markets.
Graham and Jean bought Mist Haven units from Cec and Lois Carpenter, and later the brick house in Lennox Crescent where Jean and Graham lived until Graham’s death in 2008. Jean was devastated by his death but remained here for several years. However, with declining health and missing Graham deeply, she sold the house and moved to Patterson in NSW to be nearer to her children and grand-children. Here, she quickly made friends and helped regularly in an art and craft shop until failing health forced her to retire.
Jean is remembered very fondly by her friends in Paluma and our sympathy is extended to her family in their sad loss.
A celebration of the lives of Graham and Jean and spreading of their mingled ashes, will be held by the family on 6th June in Paluma, where Graham and Jean had been so happy.
We are deeply saddened to report the recent passing of Stafford Browne, long-time resident of Hussey Road, Paluma. Stafford, best known to his Paluma friends and family as ‘Staff’ passed away on 11 December 2019. He will be fondly remembered this week at a private ‘Celebration of Life’ in Townsville. Our loving thoughts and sincere condolences are extended to Merle and the family in their great loss.
It is with great sorrow that we report the passing in Maleny late in September of former Paluma resident, Andy Bishop.
Andy and Ann Bishop were popular long-time residents having come to Paluma from Mt Isa in 1989 to take ownership of the renowned Ivy Cottage Tea Rooms. People came from far and wide to experience the warm hospitality of Ann and Andy, sample the Devonshire teas and see at close hand the many birds that flocked to the cottage gardens. One distinguished guest was David Attenborough.
The Bishops sold Ivy Cottage in 1998 and Andy took up the position of groundsman at Paluma Environmental School where he worked until retirement.
During his time here Andy built as their residence the unusually designed house at No. 13 Mount Spec Road. Always involved in community activities, Andy rode every year until 2017 in the Paluma Push cycle race. Andy and Ann were keen tap dancers and regularly attended aqua-aerobics. They moved from Paluma to Maleny in 2016 to be closer to extended family. They continued to live life to the fullest, frequently travelling around Australia and abroad and relishing their retirement and their life together.
Our deepest sympathy and caring thoughts go to Ann in her devastating loss.
Loris Klumpp (nee Brown), 9 September 1925 to 26 July 2019
Sadly, the last of the early pioneers of Paluma, Loris Klumpp, passed away in Brisbane recently, aged 93.
Loris, with her parents Eric and Ruby Brown and sister Averil, started visiting Paluma in the early 1930’s. Eric purchased land at 70 Mt Spec Road at the first public auction in 1934. The land was two doors down from Ivy Cottage. This property is still owned today by the Klumpp family.
Loris wrote an interesting recollection of her childhood memories of Paluma in Neal Sellars publication, The Paluma Road – 50 Years On. You can read her account in the History Section of the paluma.org website. Loris’ account starts at the bottom of page 4 in the document.
[mdocs single-file=”Paluma Road.pdf”]
During the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s Loris, with husband Bill, loved their time at Paluma, enjoying the climate, fauna, flora and social gatherings. Just for the same reasons many locals enjoy time at Paluma today.
After volunteer work in Townsville, Loris and Bill enjoyed 4 to 5 days of each week at Paluma. Every Friday night ‘it was on at the Klumpps’. Local residents visited the Klumpps for a fun night playing table-tennis and snooker, with the ladies playing cards. Everyone brought a plate to share for supper. On the weekends many ‘Wimbledon finals’ were hotly contested on the old World War 2 tennis court located opposite Ivy Cottage. The playing surface was said to be – part cement, part grass and part dirt – due to all the cracks! Contestants had to be skilled as ‘all court players’.
Loris and Bill moved to the Sunshine coast in 1991, handing over their Paluma property to son and daughter-in-law, Peter and Dorothy.
In her later years, after suffering ill health, Loris was lovingly nursed and cared for by her daughter and son-in-law, Diane and Russ Morgan. The many visits from her four grandsons and nine great grandchildren gave Loris much joy.
When not volunteering, Loris always kept herself busy with many hobbies and interests. She was an avid novel and history reader, piano player, china painter, art lover, dressmaker, crochet needle worker, gardener, extensive overseas traveller, and she loved cooking for large family and social gatherings. It may be easy to see why Loris will always be loved and missed by her family and friends.
Loris’ deep and abiding affection for the little rainforest village of Paluma now lives on through her descendants in the Klumpp family. All family members, over five generations, love visiting Paluma and enjoy the area’s natural beauty and wonders. Loris’ spirit will always reside in the village – somewhere about 70 Mt Spec Road and the old tennis court!
Article & Photo provided courtesy of Peter & Dorothy Klumpp