GAFFNEY, Patrick Joseph

Pat, Dad, Grandad passed away after a life characterised by hard work and doing his best for his family.
He was a good man and was very proud that his children have grown up to be good adults.
Pat was born in Brisbane on Friday 12th July 1935, the son of Marie Kathleen and Joseph Ignatius, and a brother for big sister Philomena.
He grew up during a time of great change, with World War 2 starting when he was 4 years old and ending when he was 10 years old.
Pat started school at St Stephen’s next to St Stephen’s Cathedral in the Brisbane CBD, finishing at St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace.
He then studied Bookkeeping at the Brisbane Central Technical College which is now known as QUT.

Pat lost his father when he was 18 but had already been taught by his father the value of hard work, perseverance, and the importance of family.

As a young man, Pat played competitive cricket and rugby league.
He worked hard in his early twenties at Queensland Railways like his father and built a house at Redcliffe before getting married to Ann in August 1960.
From late 1961 until early 1972, Pat became the father of 5 children.
During this period Pat showed his considerable handyman skills completely concreting under the Redcliffe house and enclosing under the house to create extra rooms for his growing family.
Pat valued education and continued to work hard to give all his children the best possible start in life. He also studied Accountancy by correspondence to improve his career prospects.

In 1971, Pat and Ann decided on a sea change before sea change was a thing, and the family moved to Bribie Island where they built a new house at Bongaree.
Pat continued to commute into the city for 2 years until he fully embraced the sea change and resigned.
He was then self-employed undertaking various occupations including being the milk man for the island for many years.
In 1984, the family moved back to the Peninsular to be closer to his daughters’ schools at Scarborough.

Pat eventually retired in his early 70s from his final job as a taxi driver, after which he volunteered for several years for St Vincent De Paul and The Breakfast Club at the Redcliffe Showgrounds.
One of his favourite retirement pastimes was simply observing the world.
At that time Pat was living on the beachfront between Scarborough and Redcliffe and he loved watching the ships entering and leaving the port of Brisbane and planes arriving and departing from the airport.

In April 2022, Pat moved into Ozanam at Clontarf.
He was very happy there and regularly noted how wonderful a place it was, primarily due to the carers he interacted with.
As a Redcliffe Rugby League team supporter for decades, Pat was very happy when the Dolphins joined the NRL in 2023.

On Tuesday 3^rd October 2023, Pat passed away, aged 88.

A good way to appreciate the man Pat was, is to share with you some of the moments his children experienced with him.

Whatever job Pat had, he would always go above and beyond to give the best service he could, no matter what the situation.
His son Rick recalled in 1974 when the Australia Day floods hit south-east Queensland, Rick and Pat’s other son Tony were Pat’s offsiders for weekend home milk deliveries.
They kept on delivering even when the rain became torrential, and the roads were cut by floods.
Pat said they needed to keep going because families with young kids needed their milk.
Since the streets were too flooded for the milk truck, they used their rowboat to deliver the milk.
When Pat considered it unsafe for Rick and Tony, the boys went home but Pat kept on delivering and the residents received their milk.

Besides dedication, the previous story is also an example of Pat caring for others.
As a resident at Ozanam, Pat loved his binoculars and would spend hours watching the birds outside his window from his armchair.
Daughter Caroline recalled that Pat would also watch the coming and going of people in the garden downstairs.
On one occasion he noticed a lady had fallen over in the garden and was unable to get up.
Pat instinctively acted and immediately alerted staff.
Pat was later sometimes referred to as their Neighbour Watch.

With five children, Pat spent a lot of time teaching his children to drive.
By the time it was Lyndell’s turn as the last of the learner drivers, Pat was a very calm instructor.
He never panicked or was alarmed no matter what was happening.
Lyndell says that as soon as she had the car moving, Pat seemed to start snoozing.
Lyndell did suspect that since the car would shake vigorously if you tried to go over 90 km/hr helped Pat be so calm as it was impossible to accelerate too fast or speed on the highway.

Daughter Jennifer recalled a holiday twenty years ago that was Pat’s one and only overseas holiday.
Pat, Jennifer, Tony, and Tony’s family undertook a driving holiday of New Zealand’s South Island.
On the way into Queenstown, Pat saw snow for the first time which he found exciting, and he was quickly throwing snowballs at and with his grandchildren.
But later when visiting the impressive Franz Josef Glacier, Pat was less impressed and said to Jennifer, “Why do I want to see that? I’ve seen ice before.”
All agreed with Pat that it was a lot like the ice that builds up in his freezer at home.

Despite or perhaps because of the family having an epic caravanning trip to Cairns in 1976, Pat was a very reluctant traveller.
Tony recalls that might have been because on that holiday, there were seven people in the car and sleeping in the caravan for two weeks.
The car broke down in Townsville and on the way home, the top of the caravan was damaged by a low branch in a caravan park.
Pat never again did a caravanning road trip.
Pat generally always worked long hours each week when he was self-employed, and when he had time off he just wanted to do nothing and rest.

Dedication, caring for others, patience, down to earth, the reluctant traveller, Pat maintained his sense of humour, quick wit, and compassion for others right to the end.
Pat may not be with us anymore, but his life has positively contributed to many.
Pat’s love, effort and sacrifice during his lifetime will not be forgotten.