Community & Business
20 July, 2023
Remembering one of Felton’s finest
Felton, and indeed the wider district, lost one its greats last month when farmer and former Cambooya Shire Chairman and Mayor Robert Leslie Free passed away at the age of 92.
His daughter Susan Hallas shared details and memories of his long and fulfilled life in the eulogy she delivered at his funeral on 26 June.
Robert ‘Bob’ Free was born in Toowoomba on 13 November, 1931, the son of Leslie and Marion Free and younger brother to Adele.
He grew up on ‘Mayfield’, first settled by the Free family 112 years ago when James Tyson’s Felton Station was divided.
He attended Nunkulla State School which was a pony ride or walk from home, then attended Coupers Memorial School, a private school which operated for 3 years at the Westbrook Homestead.
Although he claimed to only have put in time there, he was still recently able to recite the roll call for the entire school in alphabetical order, having heard it every day for two years.
Strong and lasting friendships were formed and in 1972, Bob and other old boys organised a reunion with 28 attending.
Reunions became a date on the last Wednesday in March each year until recently when the group met for lunch every six months or so.
Bob was able to attend this year along with eight former school mates, with an average age of 90 years.
After leaving school, Bob began working on the family farm.
He started work with his dad Les and his uncle Gib Gillam, who was share farming there at the time.
They were dairying in those days as well as cropping.
They also carried out the maintenance on the boilers and machinery at the Felton Cheese Factory.
Through attending local dances and tennis parties at ‘Mayfield’, Bob met his soul mate of 65 years, Esme Lorraine Grimes.
Esme lived with sister Alma and her husband Jack Peters at Felton and worked on the manual telephone exchange.
Bob and Esme married in 1954 and settled on ‘Mayfield’.
The arrival of Susan Lee, Wendy Jane and Peter Robert completed the Free family.
Bob joined the Clifton Lions Club in 1968.
He said at the time he’d try it for six months and see how it went: 55 years later he was still a member.
At club level he held many positions: President and Secretary, as well as Zone Chairman and Deputy District Governor, Miss Personality Chairman and Youth of the Year Chairman.
His son Peter followed in his footsteps as a Clifton Lion.
Bob received many awards from Lions including a Melvin Jones Fellowship Award which is given in recognition of humanitarian services to Lions.
Susan shared an amusing story from his time attending a Lions conference.
At one conference in Surfers Paradise many years ago, there were Cigarette Hostesses handing out free smokes and encouraging everyone to light up.
Bob and his friends, not wanting to appear rude, accepted.
He noticed the young lady was trying to tell him something, raising her voice above the rabble.
As often happens, there was a lull as she yelled, “Sir, please place the other end of the cigarette in your mouth so I can light it.”
The surrounding groups got a good chuckle at Bob’s expense.
Bob and wife Esme also gave a lot of time to their church, serving on Drayton Parish Council for many years.
He helped to organise the painting of All Saints Church in Cambooya completely with volunteer labour.
He was the only one brave enough to go up in the cherry picker to paint the bell tower and if you look up now you can still see his initials and the date.
Councillor Bob Free, following his father Les’ footsteps, was elected to the Cambooya Shire Council in 1982, where he served for eighteen years, the last seven and a half as Mayor.
He served as the last Shire Chairman and the first Mayor when the name change was introduced.
In his time on council, improvements such as the installation of town water for Cambooya, Greenmount, Wyreema, Hodgson Vale and Vale View, and a sewerage scheme for Wyreema were carried out.
Susan said proudly he led a very forward-thinking council, covering an area which has seen a population explosion in recent years.
In early 2008, a multinational mining company reared its ugly head in the Felton Valley.
Its aim was to mine coal and build a petrochemical plant completely decimating the fertile farm land.
Susan said Ambre under-estimated the moral fibre of the Felton community who banded together and were able to beat “Goliath” and form even stronger bonds.
Friends of Felton was born and the Free family led by Bob and Esme stood in solidarity through protests and Felton Food Festivals over many years.
Susan said Bob told her he understood the Aboriginal concept of the land owning him after this battle.
Another great passion of Bob’s life was his vehicles.
They include a 1918 Foden Steam Truck, bought by his father Les in 1952.
Susan said it was a work horse, one time taking 100 bags of grain from the farm to the Wheat Board in Cambooya for sale.
The whole Free family loved to attend the Jondaryan Woolshed Heritage Festival, where they had nine days in a row where they could steam up to join the Grand Parade.
Bob’s family includes children Susan, Wendy and Peter, their spouses Stephen, Davey and Sylvia, grandchildren Elizabeth, Sarah, Matthew, Christopher, Michael, Tim, Charles, and Katie and great-grandchildren Isabelle, Kiana, Lilly, Kobe, Jaxom, Amelia, Archie, and Murphy.
