"Keiran loved Port Macquarie and to many of us here, Keiran was Port Macquarie".
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Keiran John Dick was born in Port Macquarie on December 2, 1950 and passed away on Friday November 16, 2018.
He was aged 68 years.
Kerian was the second youngest son of nine children born to Gordon and Mary Dick.
His brother Adrian said Keiran’s love and enjoyment of his large family and hometown became integral to who he became later as a man.
"His devotion to his wife Paula and their children and grandchildren, sum up what Keiran was about, hard work, love and care of family, and involvement in his community," Adrian said.
"In growing up within a large family in Port Macquarie, we made our own fun. We played together, looked after one another, and explored everywhere, our favourite places being the rivers, woodlands and blue metal quarry. Dad and Mum were a huge influence in our lives.
"In the summertime, it was commonplace for us to all get into Dad’s rowboat after mass on Sunday and head to North Shore where we would picnic and fish. Dad would also take us with him up Limeburner’s Creek to cut a beehive out of a tree or to hunt as he had done growing up.
"Keiran, like the rest of us, thought nothing of spending the day walking through the bush on the North Shore or wandering and fishing the beach as far up as Point Plomer."
After his school education was complete, Keiran completed an apprenticeship in glass cutting and spent his life working for local companies successfully applying this craft.
In his early thirties, he met and married Paula in Port Macquarie Uniting Church on May 3, 1986. Paula had two children, Rodney and Debb from a prior marriage. On September 14, 1987 the newly formed family were blessed with the arrival of Rebecca.
Keiran and Paula shared over 32 years of a loving, happy and successful marriage in which they were devoted to one another and their children.
Keiran loved his grandchildren – Joshua and Nathan, Danielle, Xander and Riley, Nathaniel and Theodore, and his great-grandson, Xavier.
He was adored by his children and grandchildren and made sure that he always spent time with them. He also ensured he kept in contact with his siblings and friends on a regular basis. His weekly phone calls would usually last for ages.
"As a boy, Keiran learned to row a boat, mostly standing facing the bow and pushing the boat forward with the oars as the professional fishermen on the river did. He also learned to catch bait, be it beach worms, nippers or poddy mullet.
As a boy, Keiran learned to row a boat, mostly standing facing the bow and pushing the boat forward with the oars as the professional fishermen on the river did.
- Adrian Dick
"Dad also taught us the safe use of firearms. No one was allowed play with toy guns or to pretend with firearms in our home. Keiran learned to use a .22 rifle by the time he was 8.
"I recall letting him use a 12-gauge shotgun when he was 12 and can still remember the surprise he got from the recoil and his elation that came from a successful shot."
Keiran later became a co-founder and chairman of the Hastings Valley Hunting Club. He also co-founded and remained a committee member of the Oxley Pistol Club.
The local rifle range complex in Port has been named “The Keiran Dick Range”. His work and dedication was still ongoing at the time of his death.
Good friend John Tingle described Keiran as "a dependable, close, personal friend of long standing'.
"More than that, in the best Australian tradition, we were mates," Mr Tingle said.
"He was one of the first people I met when I moved to Port Macquarie in 1995. From that first meeting sprang an enduring and fruitful friendship.
"Keiran was a man who didn't mess around - he just went ahead and got things done.
"Most people have little or no idea that it became a seven-day-a-week labour of love for him. And even less idea of just how much he actually did.
"I have no idea how we will get on without him now that he has been so unexpectedly taken from us - taken far too early.
"Keiran could be pretty tough, and very direct. You always knew exactly where you stood with him, and he certainly did not suffer fools gladly.
"In fact his approach to the sort of people who complained and threw up obstacles, was very interesting. Very Keiran," Mr Tingle said.
"His discreet and disarming way of dealing with them became renowned."
In fact his approach to the sort of people who complained and threw up obstacles, was very interesting. Very Keiran.
- John Tingle
Along with the shooting club, Keiran also had a lifelong love of boats and fishing. He fished the beaches, rivers and rocks but his favourite type of fishing was out at sea, despite regularly getting seasick on the boat.
In 2012 he built his own 16-foot wooden boat. He planned it meticulously – sought advice from experts and went ahead. His boat is a credit to his skills of workmanship.
Recently he promised his grandson Nate that he would teach him to fish and when he was old enough he would build him a 10 footer so that he could enjoy things like Poppy had when he was young.
Keiran was many things to many people, a loving husband, father, grandfather, son, brother and friend. He was always generous with his time and would get in and help his mates.
If you called in at Paula and Keiran’s, you were offered a cup of tea or coffee and he would then sit and yarn for as long as you liked.
His generous heart and love for others is embodied in his final act as an organ donor. Two people will now go on to live longer and healthier lives with their families as recipients of his kidneys and sight has been restored to two others, as recipients of his corneas.
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