Steve Condon’s shock death at age 61 rocks Rockhampton community

A grieving wife has thanked those who worked tirelessly to try to save the life of a man who was involved in many major sporting associations in Rockhampton. Read the moving tributes.

Tributes are flowing for Rockhampton's Steve Condon who died on September 2 after suffering a massive heart attack.

Steve Condon is fondly remembered as a “gentle giant” and a thorough gentleman who left a lasting impression on all those he met.

Tributes are pouring in for the loving family man, former railway worker and well-known sports identity from Rockhampton following his shock death at age 61.

Stephen suffered a massive heart attack on the afternoon of Friday, September 1, and passed away early the next day in a Brisbane hospital.

He is survived by wife Karen and their two daughters, Abby and Jema.

A celebration of his life will be held at 11am on Tuesday at the Rockhampton Baptist Church.

Through her grief, Karen expressed her profound gratitude to all those who gave Steve such incredible medical care.

“He was attended to firstly by the dedicated paramedics and then at the Rockhampton Hospital by the emergency doctors and staff all who worked tirelessly for hours and miraculously gave him a second chance at receiving the specialist treatment, only available in Brisbane, which he so desperately needed to save his life,” she said.

Steve Condon was a great mate to so many people in the Rockhampton community.

“After being flown to the Prince Charles Hospital under the care of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, he sadly did not make that last hurdle.”

His funeral notice reads “great friend and respected by many”.

Robert Sweeney and Peter Mehlhose agree that no truer words could be written.

They are both still in shock and struggling to come to terms with the loss of the great man they were blessed to know.

“He was a genuine guy who was larger than life,” Robert said.

“Nothing was too much trouble for Steve; if you needed a hand he was always there to help.”

Steve was an imposing figure, standing at 193cm tall, prompting Peter to dub him a “gentle giant”.

“He was like a brother to me,” he said.

“He was very kind, always giving and just so supportive.”

Steve Condon (back left) and wife Karen (front right) with friends Brad and Vicky Miers and Robert and Tracy Sweeney on a recent trip to Melbourne.

Robert’s voice breaks as he reveals that the Condons had booked and paid for flights for a much-anticipated overseas holiday the night before Steve suffered his heart attack.

Robert and his wife Tracy, Steve and Karen and Brad and Vicky Miers were headed to the United States, Canada and Alaska next year to celebrate a milestone birthday for Robert.

The Condons had last visited the US in 1992 and Karen said Steve was so excited about the upcoming trip.

“He had researched all the basketball, baseball and ice hockey games he could see and all the golf courses he could visit - or afford to play on,” she said.

Robert said it was hard to comprehend that Steve was no longer here.

“We’re going to miss the things that we were planning to do together in the next 20-odd years when you think you’ve got the best part of your life ahead of you,” he said.

Robert was part of Steve’s wedding party, while Karen was a member of his and Tracy’s, with Steve the perfect MC.

Steve Condon (back row, fifth from left) with the Park Avenue A1 men's hockey team, who were runners-up in the Rockhampton competition in 1983.

Steve was heavily involved in sport. He loved them all and would have a go at most and, not surprisingly, it was through sport that he met Robert and Peter.

He was president of the Rockhampton Golf Club, a life member of CQU Piranhas Baseball Club, and a member of the Park Avenue Hockey Club, past member of Easts Tigers Cricket Club and Toledo Basketball Club.

Steve was a passionate Queensland Reds supporter and would have enjoyed nothing more than seeing his beloved Broncos take out the NRL premiership this year.

Steve signed on with the Park Avenue Hockey Club under-8s in 1970 with Robert and continued through the grades until 1985. A hard-hitting fullback, he regularly represented Rockhampton.

Hockey in the winter and cricket in the summer was the norm for both Steve and Robert, who recalls how they were both selected in rep teams alongside Australian great Ian Healy.

Steve was a handy right-arm paceman with an unusual action and a lethal in-swinger.

As Rockhampton Golf Club president, Steve Condon (right) was proud to be involved with the successful staging of the US Kids Golf Foundation Australian Open. He is pictured at the 2022 event with Alicia Kyriazis, RGC general manager Jarrod Miles and Rockhampton Regional Council deputy mayor Neil Fisher.

Several years after finishing with hockey and dabbling in basketball, Steve made the move to baseball, where he would meet Peter who had moved from Brisbane to Rockhampton.

“We became best of mates from that first season,” Peter said.

“Our families socialised together and when the kids came along, they were all together.

“Their kids called me Uncle Peter and my kids called them Uncle Steve and Aunty Karen.”

When they decided they were getting a little long in the tooth for baseball, Steve and Peter turned their hand to golf.

As well as playing they both joined the Rockhampton Golf Club committee. Peter had four years as president with Steve as club captain before Steve was elected president last year.

Peter said Steve was all about making the club more inclusive, bringing the club through a new modern constitution and was always looking to foster the development of junior golfers.

Karen said Steve was proud of his involvement in the successful staging last year of the US Kids Golf Foundation Australian Open, with the 2023 edition to be held again in Rockhampton.

Robert, too, said Steve was always willing to go the extra mile and when he took something on, always gave it his all.