BOYUP Brook stalwart Graeme Diggins passed away recently.
Mr Diggins will be remembered for the 34 years he worked diligently as the proprietor of the BP Service Station in Boyup Brook, his strength of character, devotion to his family and a tireless service club worker.
Mr Diggins grew up in Victoria and was introduced to his wife Claire through family friends.
The inevitable happened; they married and the next few years saw them in SA with Mr Diggins working on the land and Claire as a nurse. WA became their home in the late 1960s.
While Claire was having their family, Julie, Michelle and Step hen, Graeme set about working in many different jobs, farm work, timber milling, Boyup Brook Co-op Hardware and Proctor's Store.
In 1980 they purchased their business, the BP Service Station, from the Cuttriss family and their home from the Thompson family.
From then until the present, Mr Diggins and his wife worked for seven days a week with very little leisure time.
"I noticed that the family became very devoted to one another as the time taken by the business restricted their social life," friend Len Halstrom said.
As the years went by, so the family grew, adding five grandchildren.
However, it was with great sadness that the family was faced with the loss of Stephen in a work-related accident.
Mr Diggins had a great love for his grandchildren, which they recognised. He teased them saying his bald head was so shiny because he polished it every night.
Granddaughter Chloe said he always had an abundance of bad grandpa jokes.
"I'm sure he had a 'guide to bad jokes' book hidden somewhere in his pocket," Chloe said.
"It must have been pretty small as he repeatedly told the same jokes the majority of the time."
Through his kindness, many of the animals on his property were saved from a grim fate including a calf from a petting zoo and his granddaughter's horse.
One of his philosophies in life was: if it can't be done with the tractor then it's not worth doing.
Every task on the farm was done with the tractor whether it was easier to do so or not, and for Graeme occupational health and safety wasn't necessarily in the forefront of his mind.
Chloe remembers the time the shed gutters were cleaned.
"We had Poppy on his beloved tractor raising my grandmother up to the roof in the bucket which was swaying back and forth as well as jerking violently up, down and all around. This was Poppy's way and that's how it had to be done," she said.
Even with a busy work load, Mr Diggins, with support from Claire and his family, was active in Apex being president in 1972-73, district governor in 1973-74 and a life member of Apex.
Mr Diggins went on to join Lions and was regarded as one who made things happen.
He played a big part in the Lions' auctions, busy bees and the Sand akan Scholarship.
He served as president, secretary and treasurer more than once.
He was made a life member of the Boyup Brook Lions Club.
From club level, Mr Diggins ventured further and became involved in Lions at district level.
"Being a service club member isn't always easy," Collie Lions mem ber Jeff Needham said.
"Graeme and Claire were committed to a family business. They were also committed to the business of family.
"To take on a major district responsibility on top of the commitments they already had made great demands on their time. I suspect there were many occasions when Claire took on extra work to allow Graeme the freedom to be a busy Lion."
Mr Diggins became a very busy district officer and daughter, Julie, often accompanied him when attending to Lions District 201W2 affairs.
"Graeme and Julie were the first father-daughter team to join Lions in our district, and the first father and daughter to belong to District Cabinet together," Mr Needham said.
"Something for the family to remember and to be proud of."
The project closest to Mr Diggins's heart was Youth of the Year.
This program was aimed at upper high school students across the state to encourage them to develop public speaking skills.
He made the project his own and set out to sell it to every club in the southern part of WA.
For three years participation rates grew, more clubs and more young people became involved and three different district governors recognised Mr Diggins's energy, enthusiasm and success with three awards for outstanding service.
The work done by Mr Diggins as a district officer was also recognised by the members of the district when he was awarded a Melvin Jones Fellowship in recognition of his humanitarian service.
"Graeme Diggins was a leader, who led by example. He was a tireless worker, a loving family man, and a Lion who believed that community service mattered," Mr Needham said.
