Here’s cheers to my hero, always young at heart

John Blanck, in my opinion, was young at heart and I think that was one of the reasons myself and many others connected with him.

Ashley Robinson.

MULBERRY trees invoke great memories for me.

As a kid growing up on a farm, they were a staple diet after school and of course all over my uniform as well as my face.

I think God created them specifically for kids or at least kids at heart.

I wrote about them in a column decades ago.

Then a good friend rang me, said he had a tree in his backyard and when it came into fruit, that he would ring me and I could come up and sit under the tree with him and shoot the breeze.

24/11/04 137880e John Blanck received a certificate of merit in the Sunshine Coast Sports Hall of Fame and was congratulated by his wife Edith. Photo: Barry Leddicoat.

I was particularly excited about this as the man was John Blanck who was a family friend and, in fact, my hero - someone I had looked up to all my life.

So I was very excited about sitting under a mulberry tree with him and hopefully absorbing some wisdom as there was plenty of room in my nearly empty vessel.

When the day arrived, it was everything I expected it to be.

John, in my opinion, was young at heart and I think that was one of the reasons myself and many others connected with him.

Sadly, he passed away last Friday with his family gathered around him.

He had simply had enough. But as they say, life is judged by that dash between when you came into this life and when you finally left and his dash was a bloody big one for all the things he achieved and lives that he touched.

I am only going to write about my feelings for John.

There will be plenty of people who will write more and do him more justice than on this page.

But sometimes in life you are lucky enough to meet special people and I was lucky enough to do that, thanks to my mum and dad knowing John and June Blanck back in the '50s.

Sadly, June passed away in the late '80s, which broke a wonderful partnership, both in family and business.

I was lucky in my teenage years to ingrate myself into their large loving family - I think by persistence more than anything.

I just kept turning up to their beautiful home near Maroochy High School.

John and June did so much for the community back in those days and it never stopped after June passed.

Via his business and Rotary connections, it was a big loving family that just kept on giving.

Just last week, I was reflecting on the '70s and '80s and the influence he had on me and I mentioned before that he was young at heart.

I think that was the thing with me: John was a person you could talk to, relate to, but most of all listen to.

He commanded respect without even trying.

One of my fondest memories was when Sheila and I got married in 1984 - the same year my dad died so I was at a tough stage in my life.

The wedding was already set just a few months later and on the day, the bloody photographer never turned up.

John took control and became the wedding photographer.

No drama, and he did an awesome job (probably with some help from June which kept the bride sane on the day, thank God).

I was blessed to know him and it would be remiss of me not to thank his wonderful family for sharing him and his second wife Edith, who loved and supported him unequivocally.

I think this saying sums up John Blanck: "Confidence isn't thinking you are better than anyone, it's realising you have no reason to compare yourself to anyone else".

RIP.

Originally published as