Medal of the Order of Australia’s Desmond Pasfield: I don’t think I deserve this honour:

Desmond Pasfield played down receiving his Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), saying it was a surprise to him.

Desmond Pasfield loves his gardening. Picture: Matthew Vasilescu

• Australia Day fun at Canterbury Bankstown
• Amazing tale of our very own flying missionaries

DESMOND Pasfield played down receiving his Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), saying it was a surprise to him.

The sprightly 89-year-old Canterbury resident has been volunteering for many years, starting with De La Salle College, Ashfield and Canterbury Swimming Club in the 1970s.

He is now a Member of the Order of Australia for service to community of Canterbury Bankstown.

Desmond Pasfield and his wife Patricia. Picture: Matthew Vasilescu

“This is a big surprise and I don’t think I deserve this,” Mr Pasfield said.

“My wife Patricia has also been involved with lot of my work.”

Married for 62 years, they have five sons, Stephen, Garry, Michael, Colin and Brian, 14 grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Australian champions Katie Pasfield, Michael Pasfield and Zara Pasfield on the ice skating rink together in 2013. Picture: David Marshall

His third son, Michael, is a former Australian ice skating champion and world championship contender, who was inducted in the sport’s Hall of Fame in 2004. Now grandchildren, Zara and Katie Pasfield are Australian champions.

”When you have five sons, you tend to get involved with their sports activities which included swimming, football, athletics and skating with Michael winning the Australian title in the early eighties,” Mr Pasfield said.

Mr Pasfield was president of the Kingsgrove-Bankstown Food Bank from 1998-2004 and president or committee member of several local associations, including St Vincent de Paul Society and the Earlwood/Clemton Park Conference, Jacinta Villa committee and St Bernadette Conference.

A former civil engineer with Sydney Water, Mr Pasfield now spends a lot of time in his garden, with fading eyesight cutting down on his other favourite habit of reading.