VALE: Barry Walter Hinton — 22.02.1944 – 13.12.2024
BARRY Hinton’s family feel truly blessed and forever grateful for the time they had to share with him.
You just had to see the look on his face to see the enjoyment they gave him. He appeared strong, but underneath he was a real softie.
Barry Walter Hinton was born in Ipswich on February 22, 1944, the eldest of five children to Walter (Mick) Hinton and Grace Ethel Freeman.
He lived at One Mile in Ipswich until the age of three when his parents moved to Rosewood, where his father went to work in the coal mines.
He grew up with his siblings Raymond, Bruce, Lorraine and Glenda. Their lives revolved around sport. Games were contested like they were playing for sheep stations.
Family stories about young Barry abound, from putting a miner’s pick into Bruce’s head while pretending to mine for coal to blowing up residents’ letterboxes.
He went to Rosewood State School and Ipswich State High School. Then he went to Brisbane to work, boarding with an aunty and coming home on weekends.
One weekend he discovered the love of his life. At a Rosewood dance, he said to his mates: ‘Who is that good looking blonde sitting over there?’
She was Mary Yarrow from Lanefield. It was the start of a love affair lasting a lifetime. On November 13, 1965 they married in the Rosewood Congregational Church.
Barry and Mary moved into their first home at Riverview. They had two children, a daughter Tracey, born in Ipswich and a son, David, born in Perth.
Barry had a great love of sport, as a competitor, administrator, spectator or armchair critic.
Mary said when you went to the Hinton house and sport was on TV, you quickly learned to be quiet in case they missed something. She realised she’d better become a sports fan too.
Barry gained representative honours at sports including rugby league, cricket, tennis, hockey, squash, athletics, golf and bowls. He hated losing, saying there were no prizes for running second.
He managed Ipswich and Queensland teams and was secretary and manager of Ipswich Turf Club (ITC).
ITC chairman Wayne Patch said Barry started with the ITC about the same time as he joined the board as Treasurer in 1990-91.
The club had just been through imposed administration following major fraud involving an employee.
“He brought a wealth of financial and administrative expertise to the role,” Patch said.
“Barry quickly became a racing aficionado and formed a deep understanding of the nuances of racing administration.
“He retired from the ITC after a decade in the role and was an integral part of laying the platform for the successful enterprise the club is today.”
Former ITC general manager Brett Kitching said Barry was his role model.
“I remember when I started in 2004 in the same job, I reckoned if I could do as well as he did during his time, then I’d be going good,” Kitching said.
Barry’s health problems had a big impact on his life, starting with major surgery just before his 18th birthday that left him with only one properly functioning kidney.
At the time he was in his first job, a clerk for Eagers at Newstead, one of Australia’s biggest car dealerships. The operation made him think about his future. Someone said he should become an accountant.
He studied at college and by correspondence while working, establishing a home, being transferred to the other side of Australia and with lots of work travel.
In 1998, Barry was diagnosed with chronic heart disease resulting in open heart surgery. It meant another massive life change as he was forced to retire at 55.
From 2015 to 2023, Barry was diagnosed with a cruel succession of cancers, but he always looked on the positive side and tried to live as normal a life as possible.
He loved working in his garden and his lawn never had a blade of grass out of place. Even when he wasn’t well, he would be on hands and knees pulling out weeds.
He loved travelling and photography, owned numerous cameras and always had a camera with him.
Barry was a meticulous organiser, even his funeral. His family said he would probably think they wouldn’t do it right.
One of his last major projects was the Hinton family tree, tracing the family with information from America back to its origins in 1066.
