Vale: Garry John James “Bert” Cuthbert OAM – 17.06.1940 – 23.10.2024
BIG-HEARTED and selfless and affectionately known as ‘Bert’, Garry Cuthbert dedicated his life to helping others, seeking nothing in return but mateship.
Bert was the much-loved brother of Kerry Linnehan, beloved uncle to Peter, Kellie and Jane and special great uncle to Hannah, Ryan, Mia, Sam, Elijah, Natnael and Bereket.
Family and friends attended a celebration of Bert’s life on November 4 at Nerang.
The final words of his eulogy said it all: “As we say goodbye to Bert today, his legacy lives on. As he demonstrated in his life, we should remember the simple pleasures in life, remember to be humble, remember to stand by our convictions, remember to honour mateship and remember the importance of family.
“Bertie, rest well, knowing you made a difference in every life you touched.”
His sister Kerry Linnehan said she had lots of memories of growing up with Bert mixed with conversations during the time they spent together before he died.
“He never married and so my kids kind of became his kids. He was the uncle they always wanted around,” Mrs Linnehan said.
“And I have five grandchildren and the great nieces and nephews felt the same. So, he was a big contributor to our lives and their family life.
“Probably the main thing I would say was that he was also a very private soul.
“He virtually gave his whole life to helping other people. As he said, he always considered others first and I think that’s the epitome of him really.
“If you needed something, he was there regardless. But yes, a super generous man, he’s been.”
Bert grew up in a household with a steady stream of visitors. Sunday nights were always a surprise because any number of guests could arrive for dinner.
Along with his dedication to his mother, Bert’s early life was influenced by his grandfather’s love of the outdoors, animals and making things with timber.
As a young family, Bert, Kerry and their parents would holiday every Christmas at Redcliffe, nurturing his love of all things outdoors.
It stayed with him for life – a day without sunshine was a miserable day for Bert. He loved the ocean and bush equally and, until recently, his day started with an ocean swim.
As a teacher, he aimed to pass on his open-air fascination with the Outdoor Science Discoverers’ Club, a beekeeping club, an Australian native area and camping at Carnarvon Gorge, Girraween and the Bunya Mountains.
Bert also had a boyhood fascination with aircraft and enjoyed making precise models. This led to a lifelong interest in aircraft and an amazing knowledge of aviation.
Serendipitously, his longest teaching post was at Amberley State School near the RAAF base. His professional life also included teaching at Blair and Goodna schools.
Bert always said teaching was a vocation, not a job. Testament to his impact was the numerous invitations to class reunions over 35 years, as recently as last year.
Bert’s other great devotion was sport. Although he loved cricket, his first love was rugby league.
In his first year of teaching, Bert’s team won the premiership – beating his dad’s team.
Fellow teacher Ray Leschke said his memories of Garry went back to when they were both teaching and involved in schoolboy rugby league.
“I was teaching at North Ipswich with Des Taege and Garry was at Amberley with Les Kinnane,” Mr Leschke said.
“We all became involved in the schoolboy rugby league and set up the Parents and Old Boys Association that were the fundraisers for primary school rugby league.
“Garry was heavily involved as secretary of that and the secretary of the schoolboy rugby league. And they were instrumental in taking the schoolboy rugby league teams to Penrith on an annual basis.”
In 1999, Bert was honoured to receive the Order of Australia Medal for his contribution to youth and sport.
Bert and his friends, including the Smallwoods and Drews, travelled Australia on camping safaris. Every safari began with playing ‘On the Road Again’ by Willie Nelson.
Beyond the places they visited, the shared experiences and camaraderie was what Bert valued the most.
Bert also loved his overseas travel, especially to the British Isles and Europe. He loved the history, architecture and food.
