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Family Memories
Frank was born in 1912 on May 20 to parents Joseph Herbert and Florence. They were farmers in the Katandra locality not far from Shepparton in north-central Victoria.
Typical of the times, the family was large. Joseph and Florence had 10 children. Frank was their 7th child - their third of 6 sons.
Frank's first decade in life featured events, which were to become the topic of frequent recall in his later life. He contracted tuberculosis of the hip, which at the beginning of the 20th century, had no cure. After several years of hospitalisation in Melbourne and convalescence at home with homespun remedies, he survived and began to flourish. This alone possibly assists in understanding Frank's inner qualities that were echoed during his adult life.
Frank left the farm at the age of 18 and became active building mostly farmyard constructions in the neighbouring districts. Times were hard in the 1930's but that did not hinder his progress. In his early 20's, he married Mary Harcourt from Devenish - a nearby farming community.
Frank and Mary settled on Devenish where Colin, Living daughter and Living daugher were added to the partnership. Later, after the second world war, they moved to Benalla where Living son and Living son were to complete the family.
The 30-odd years in Benalla featured Frank's ongoing activities in building, which grew to include residential and commercial buildings. A joinery factory was established primarily to feed the material demands of the building activity and it too grew to serve the wider community.
Frank and Mary took time off in 1955 to spend 9 months travelling around Europe and America. They caught the travel bug and numerous trips overseas to Asia, England and North America followed.
Further, a farm was acquired near Benalla and, in a swing back to his early days, time and effort was channelled into farming and time for building diminished. This was Frank's 'tree-change' of sorts so that working for a living involved less stress.
Then followed the 'sea-change' in the mid 60's. Frank and Mary moved to the Gold Coast where they remained for over 4 decades. They built friendships and continued with their penchant for travel. They kept good health and enjoyed life.
Mary passed away in 1999 and this was a substantial loss for Frank as Mary was an enduring force in the partnership. Frank lived on a further 9 years reflecting his ardent love of life and that inner strength that prevailed 90 years earlier. If longevity describes the broader family roots, Frank exemplified this as he lived to a family-best age of 96 years.
One of Frank's nephews visited them annually in Queensland and he made the following comments:-
"Frank really had a great life. Every time we visited him, he gave the impression of contentment plus satisfaction with where he'd been and what he'd done. His death has the significance of the end of his generation - the last of the ten. They were a varied lot but nevertheless did great credit to Joseph Herbert and Flo. From very simple beginnings, their brood has left a permanent mark and I'm sure the world is a better place as the result of their passage thru' it. I value the contacts I had with Frank over a period of many years and will always remember how proud he was of his achievements. He gave the appearance of a person who did not live with regrets."
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