Georgetown man Bob Spark was living his second innings as a gold prospector when tragedy struck

The victim of a tragic Georgetown fatal crash has been identified as a gold prospector with a past in Brisbane, and remembered as a mentor and a generous man for whom nothing was too much trouble.

A forensic crash team of police is investigating the fatal rollover which was discovered at about 10am on Wednesday, November 8.

A man whose life was tragically cut short in a fatal car rollover on Wednesday has been remembered as a humble individual, who loved “doing his gold” and contributed to the betterment of The Gulf region.

Bob Spark, who was 73 when he died in a car crash on Forsayth Rd, south of Georgetown on Wednesday morning, has been remembered as a “dear friend” by former mayor of Etheridge Shire Council Warren Devlin.

Forensic police investigated the horror fatal rollover which happened south of Georgetown on Wednesday morning.

An erudite man, Mr Devlin said Mr Spark had worked at Griffith University in Brisbane for many years and was deeply involved in the Rocklea Markets with a wealth of knowledge about fruit and veggies, which was helpful to Mr Devlin when he started his roadhouse in Georgetown.

“He had quite the life in Brisbane and he decided to head north and go prospecting around early to mid 2000s,” Mr Devlin said.

Over morning coffees, he remembered asking Mr Spark why he gave it all up for the country life.

“He said it’s just the rat race and I want to go do something on my own and start life again,” Mr Devlin said.

“He lived out in the bush by himself, had a little camp on his mining lease, lived just outside of Georgetown on the Western Creek district and he just loved it.”

Regarded by many as a man of few words but a friendly personality, Mr Devlin fondly remembered how Mr Spark travelled down to New South Wales with him to help rebuild his late partner Mary’s house so she could stay close to family during her time of illness.

“He just said yup, lets go down and make a start so we went down and completely rebuilt a house just outside Casino – he did an amazing job, it was spectacular,” Mr Devlin tearfully recalled.

Former Etheridge Shire mayor Warren Devlin has paid tribute to his friend Bob Spark, who was 73 when he died in a car crash on Wednesday morning.

Mr Devlin, who last spoke to Mr Spark about three to four weeks ago, said Mr Spark had an incredible life and would be dearly missed.

“Bob was instrumental in helping me be elected into local government in 2008 – me being extremely dyslexic and Bob being very educated, a very smart man,” Mr Devlin said.

“He was one of my mentors in understanding how political structure works within Australia.”

Mr Devlin recalled how there were issues with the local government that they addressed together when they put together a project funded by the federal government to build the Einasleigh River Bridge on The Gulf Development Road.

“It changed the lifestyle for everybody in The Gulf,” he said.

“I had the bright idea but Bob was the one who helped me work with politicians.”

Mr Devlin said Mr Spark was a “dear friend” who helped him during his time on council.

“He could sit down and talk to the lawyers with a suit on but he would rather be doing painting and yardwork,” Mr Devlin said.

Frank Harris, a fellow gold prospector and friend of Mr Spark’s, said he “loved doing his gold.”

“Couldn’t fault the guy, he was such a nice guy, he had a problem with his heart,” Mr Harris said.

“We would have a few beers and talk gold, we used to call him “sparky”.

According to Mr Harris and Mr Devlin, one of Mr Spark’s daughters was supposed to have come up from Brisbane to visit him in the last couple of weeks.

Police were alerted to Mr Spark’s vehicle crashing south of Georgetown on Wednesday morning after a passer-by stumbled upon the confronting scene just after 10am.

Mr Spark was the driver and sole occupant of the car and was declared dead at the scene.

Early police investigations indicated the Nissan Patrol left Forsayth Rd and rolled onto its roof.

Anyone with information that could assist with the investigation, or who might have seen the vehicle in the lead up to the crash, is urged to contact police.

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Originally published as Georgetown man Bob Spark was living his second innings as a gold prospector when tragedy struck