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My grandfather was an interesting man. To mark one year since he sadly passed, here is a little of his life. Allan William Rooke, born in 1923, was the oldest child of Roy and Jessie, with three younger sisters. He trained as a blacksmith, and didn't finish his apprenticeship the first time around. After a short stint with the sugar company, he ran off to join the army in Wangaratta when war broke out. He was deployed in the jungles of New Guinea with the 2/24th battalion as a rifleman and Owen gunner.Discharged after five years with grenade injuries, he returned home and finished his apprenticeship. He was a bit of a prankster when he was a youngster, and a featherweight boxer with other things that he tried along the way. Not even a war could damage his sense of humour.As young men do, he met a girl and got married, and then two days after the wedding bolted again, this time to join the Navy in Bathurst. Grandma Joy never really forgave him for that. Because of his blacksmith ticket, he served as an engineer. His navy service lasted over 25 years and he went from stoker all the way up to Chief ERA, serving on many different ships in the Royal Australian Navy. He also served as chief ERA at Garden Island dockyard, organizing refit and repair.Allan and Joy stayed married throughout his Navy service, and had two children, Allan (Denis) and Kerrie. They lived on Sydney's Northern Beaches for a good part of their lives, before moving to the Central Coast. They settled in Long Jetty and Allan joined in the Tuggerah Lakes RSL, going to events and meetings, and eventually being appointed treasurer of the club.Joy passed away in 2000, but despite that he continued as a social butterfly, with his work in the RSL and went travelling with friends often, going all around Australia and overseas. Struggling with his health in his later years, Allan moved in with his daughter and her family in 2019, before moving into an assisted living facility in late 2020.
Allan passed away on January 22"* 2023 at his home in Belrose. There was no funeral, as he didn't want one. Survived by both children and 4 out of 5 grandchildren, Allan is remembered by his family as Chiefy Old Dear, and I think at this anniversary of his passing he'd want his friends to go to a bar and have a beer in his name. Give the old man a toast while you drink it, and remember him with a smile. A long life, 99 years proud, and a spirit that didn't know how to quit.
Lest we forget.
