Eulogy from Sarah

Christopher Arthur Maguire, now before I begin I must share a little story, if Chris were here today and heard me call him that, I would of copped a rather loud sigh of disappointment for calling him Christopher, and possibly been told what a family member was, just after he had laid his mother Betty to rest, “there’s only one person that calls me Christopher, and she’s gone now”, so to pay my respect, I will now refer to him as Chris. 

Born on the 13^th of July 1959, at Colac Hospital, Chris was the first son of Arthur and Betty Maguire, the following year in October, his only sibling, Brian was born.

He started his primary education at Barwon Downs, and finished at Birregurra.

Chris was a troublesome child, always keeping Betty on her toes, she would often share a story of how she had to take dad into the doctors as a child, because he shoved a crayon up his nose so far that she couldn’t get it out. 

In 1972 Chris commenced his secondary education at Colac high school, it was here that he met our mum, Christine. After graduating in 1977, Chris would move on to marry mum on the 20^th of October 1979, the following January, Adam was born. In 1980 he started working for Colac Dairying Company which would later become Bonlac, starting in casein processing and moving on to cheese processing, it was here he gained the nickname Cam or Cammie.

Now not everyone got along with Chris, the thing with him was, a spade was a spade, there was no sugar coating things, he was blunt and you always knew where you stood, characteristics too profound for the sensitive. He did try his best to get along with most, apart from the odd vegan or Geelong supporter.

January 1984, their second child Rhiannon was born, the following year as a family of four, they made the trip across to WA via Ayers Rock, visiting Aunty Jan in Esperance and cousin Greg White in Perth, 4 years later, along came Sarah. It was this year, 1989, that Chris would move the family to Werribee, to commence studying at Gilbert Chandler for the next four years, returning to Carpendeit in between study. He completed his certificate in applied science – Dairy food Technician, returning to Bonlac full time and moving into the dryers where he would work 12 hour shift work.

Chris was heavily involved in the Carpendeit primary school where the kids attended, he was a member of the school council and volunteered in many areas when the school closed down. After Carpendeits’ closure, he then served on the School council at Simpson where Sarah had transferred to, also volunteering his time at working bees, school sports and the cross country. Chris would also attend the school in his own time to help with the grounds upkeep, his presence never went unnoticed by the students, with his signature mullet hairstyle and moustache, comments like “hey, there’s Billy Connolly” were constantly yelled out by the kids, a comparison he was quite chuffed by. 

In 1996 Chris and Christine purchased their own 30 acres at Carpendeit, a clean up commenced making room for a large orchard and vegetable garden where Chris would end up spending a lot of time pottering around during days off. In 1997, with his passion for Scottish heritage and highland cows, they purchased 2 cows and a bull, the following year, another 4 cows would be bought and their little heard would start to grow. All the cows had names, and most would come when called with a “come on toots” or “here you go mcbull” as a wad of hay was thrown over the fence, occasionally snagging a horn.

As well as serving on the school councils, Chris also served on the local Carpendeit hall committee, after many years as an active committee member, he then took on the role of secretary/treasurer, applying for grants and organising fundraisers to improve the hall, During this time he was able to organise a renovation which extended the hall and provided a brand new toilet area, including amenities for the disabled which was a a huge benefit to the hall itself and the community. Chris also considered himself a bit of a trivia buff, so it wasn’t a surprise when he organised Carpendeits’ very own trivia night, another fundraiser which would would go towards upkeep and improvements.

As well as giving back to the community, Chris also loved AFL and was a one eyed Collingwood supporter, he also enjoyed cricket, which led to him organising bus trips down to the MCG, to watch Australia play its first one day match for the year, the first game of the season was always chosen as these games provided the best atmosphere, with the Mexican wave, a streaker or two, and with his good friend Jason along for the trip, there were many laughs had by all. 

In 2001 the family hosted a Chinese exchange student, Belle, who became Chris’ third daughter, in November of the same year, he would travel to china to meet Belles family and see the attractions. Belle had always told us her father was a fire engineer, upon arriving in Nanjing he soon noticed there had been some confusion during translation, he was greeted by Belle, and her father dressed in a full military uniform. He ended up having the trip of a lifetime, being assigned his own chauffeur and translator, taken to the usual attractions like the Great Wall and the city of Beijing, and then there was the attractions you only get to see when you’re the guest of a Lieutenant General. The trip lasted 2 weeks, calling home every day, informing us of the top shelf whiskeys he’d shared with belles father and friends, that even he said burnt the hairs off your chest, upon returning home, he was also greeted by an exorbitant phone bill from all the calls he’d made gloating about his special treatment.

In 2006 Chris was awarded the gold watch from Fonterra, formerly bonlac, for 25 years employment within the company.

2010, this was a huge year for Chris, not only did his beloved Collingwood win the grand final, but his first grandchild was born, Nickeya. The following year in 2011 he retired from the Cororooke milk factory, with his new role as grandad, a knee surgery to correct his dodgy “Maguire Knee”, and no more shift work, we all welcomed a softer more gentle Chris that no one had ever seen before. 

In 2011, he would welcome his second grandchild Damian, little did he know it then, but Damian would share his interests in all things war, soldiers, and even thunderbirds. In later years, visits to nan and grandads for Damian would involve watching thunderbirds dvds and also taking trips up to Ballarats Kryal castle to share their other common interest of medi evil.

After retirement, Chris threw himself into the Camperdown community, joining more organisations such as, Camperdown P@A society, Corangamite Arts and started volunteering at the Camperdown information centre, where he met Pat and Ric who would become great friends with himself and mum. As he was driven to put back into the community, he ran for the local shire however unsuccessful in the election, this drove him more to get tourists into the local townships and put Camperdown on the map so to speak. Joining yet more organisations such as Advance Camperdown, Great Ocean Road Tourism and the Robert Burns club, together with mum they also volunteered for the rotary club, and although not members, have been recognised as “friends of rotary”.

In 2015, two more grandchildren arrived, twins, Anthony and Dominic, and one years after that, another grandson, Nash. After mum retired from milking, they started to get out and enjoy themselves, having trips to the annual Port Fairy Folk festival, Echuca, South Australia and many more, catching up with friends and relatives. Highland gatherings were another huge interest, regularly attending the Maryborough highland gathering and later travelling further afield to Bundanoon and Canberra, it was attending these events they met friends Jan and Norm who developed a special friendship over the recent years.

In 2018, while sitting at the local celebrating St Patricks day, putting down a Guinness or two, Chris welcomed the news of yet another grandson, Jaeger. And just 10 short weeks ago, another grandson was born, Banjo, who unfortunately he never got to meet.

So today, we don’t just say goodbye to Chris Maguire, we say goodbye to Dad- the temperamental but proud father, Chris- the stubborn but caring husband, CAM- the blunt but loyal friend, and Granddad- the doting grandfather of 7.