Vale Matthew Montgomery: former milkman and bowler

Vale Matthew Montgomery: a long-time Sandgate resident and former milkman and lawn bowler.

Violet and Matthew Montgomery on their wedding day in 1953.

MATTHEW Montgomery, a resident of Sandgate for 66 years, passed away peacefully at home on August 17, aged 89, surrounded by his wife and daughters.

Matthew was well known in Sandgate from his early days as a local milkman to his lawn bowling days at Sandgate Bowls Club. In 2011 Matthew was club champion, competing against competitors much younger than himself.

Matthew Montgomery, of Sandgate, died on August 17, 2019, aged 89.

Matthew was a Quest newspaper sales representative. He took to the job like a duck to water and received a sales award for his work.

He arrived in Australia in 1950 from Belfast and was one of 18 children to Ellen and Matthew Montgomery. He was the last surviving child.

Soon after he arrived he met his lifelong love, Violet, at a ballroom dancing club in Fortitude Valley. They married in 1953.

Matthew and Violet won their bronze, silver and gold dancing medals and were ballroom bantam champions at Cloudland.

With a lot of hard work and a love of painting, Matthew and Violet turned their little house into a home which remains the centre of family life.

He loved a pint of Guinness and his footy and was an avid sports watcher on television.

Matthew leaves behind his much-loved wife Violet, daughters Michelle and Melinda, grandsons Troy, Steven, Luke and David, and great-grandchildren Alex, Fraser, Lachlan, Kai, Sibella, Lucille and Adeline.