Uncle Stan

Uncle Stan wasn't my mother or father's brother - he was a bloke my Dad met at the Livingstone Hotel in Petersham a long time ago. Dad and Uncle Stan became close friends. We saw a lot of Uncle Stan - he'd been coming to Xmas with us, on Xmas Eve, since I was in nappies... so I'm told. Uncle Stan was the only uncle we really had - sure, we had other uncles living in Germany and other family friends who we called uncle, but Uncle Stan was always there - he was a member of our family.

Uncle Stan was a thinker and a philospher. He and my Dad debated all sorts of issues across our dining room table. At some stage my brother Peter and I became old enough to take part in these debates. We were allowed to join in as equals - Uncle Stan never talked down to us... More recently he referred to my brother Peter and I as his "old mates". He meant that. He wasn't just our uncle, he was our friend. In fact, he was the oldest friend that we had...

Uncle Stan was always into new technology. He had digital watches, colour TV, a VCR and TV video games. When he upgraded his gear he sometimes loaned or handed down his old gear to us, especially at times when we mightn't have had the resources to buy those things for ourselves. He was generous and fostered a strong interest in technology in us.

He was also curious and he experimented a lot. When my Mum complained that it was difficult to vacuum the top of the wardrobe he invented a new attachment for her. Many times when he arrived at our place we would debate whose digital watch was the most accurate - unable to agree we would wait for the time beeps on the radio, judge the "winner", synchronise our watches and wait until next time Uncle Stan came to visit. Sometimes it seemed he could fix anything with a squirt of WD-40. Around our house he earned the nickname of "The Professor"...

Uncle Stan experimented with beer. The simplest experiments involved buying new or imported beers as they appeared in the shops. The more complex experiments involved his attempts to perfect his own beer recipe. He was astounded when I brewed my first beer a few years ago, using a prepacked mix. Through a bit of luck and stupidity I ended up with a really good beer. He just shook his head and said "I've been trying to brew a beer with a head like that for about 40 years"... I wish I could have added to his scientific knowledge of beer by explaining why it was so good. I couldn't: it was dumb luck, I didn't know what I was doing!

Uncle Stan's interest in technology had a deep effect on Peter and I. It is certainly one of the things that stimulated our interest in computers. When I became interested in computers, Uncle Stan put me in touch with his son Graeme, who he helped me buy a computer at a price I could afford with the help of his staff discount. These days both Peter and I are successful computing professionals. We have all of our family to thanks for that - our parents, who have always supported us... and Uncle Stan.

We've come here today to mourn the loss of a family member and friend. There's no doubt that our lives will be poorer without him. However, in the time that we knew him our lives were made richer. We had good times, we spoke about interesting things... we learned a lot. He was an extremely positive influence. For that we should be thankful. We should all be happy that we had him as a family member and friend.

He was a good bloke. He was someone I respected greatly. I'm very grateful to have known him. I loved him very much...