Thomas Stephen Potter

Late of Bribie Island, formerly of Devonport, England.
Passed away on 29th December 2014.
Aged 86 Years

Beloved Husband of Maureen, loved Father of Daphne and Gilly and loved Father-in-law to Keith and Graham, Grandfather to Rose, Louise (Dec’d) and Joe and Great-grandfather to Ashleigh and Chloe.

Relatives and Close Friends are respectfully invited to attend Steve’s funeral service, which is appointed to be held in the Chapel of Traditional Funerals, 636 Morayfield Road, Burpengary, Thursday, 8th January, 2015, commencing at 11.30 a.m.

Thomas Stephen Potter

Thomas Stephen Potter, known as Steve to most, or Pompom to his grandchildren and great grandchildren, was born in Devonport England on the 10th of March 1928, to Laura and Robert Potter. He was the first son of five children and oldest of the boys.

Steve wanted a life of adventure, when he was very young he used to stand up on the “mangle” which is an old manual washing machine that had to be turned by hand. When the rollers moved around he said he had imagined going around the world.

His first real adventure started when he was five years old, when he wandered off with a mate away from the family home, walking a few miles unbeknownst to his mother.

At the beginning of the Second World War, Steve was 11 years old and his first job was delivering messages by bicycle. At the age of 14, he became an apprentice carpenter, and was an active member of the Air Cadets. This inspired him to join the Royal Air force at age 18 as an aircraft carpenter, repairing aircraft made from timber, which is hard to imagine with the technology of today.

His very first posting was in Rhodesia, which further enhanced his love for travel and adventure. He always told a story about a time when he had some leave and decided to go for a long walk and look at the local sights. During this walk he decided it was getting dark and knowing that there were some dangerous wildlife around, he decided to sleep in a tree. In the morning he woke up noticing a gazelle in the fork of the tree, which had probably been placed there by the dangerous wildlife. He always laughed when he told this story as he had though it was a safe place and it surprised most people.

Not long after his African Safari adventure, Steve was posted back to the UK. During his service, he became best friends with Peter Smith, who was also serving in the Royal Air force. Peter introduced his sister Maureen to Steve, and it was love at first sight.

Not long after they met, Maureen had moved to Ceylon with her family and Steve didn’t want to be separated from the love of his life so he requested to be posted to Ceylon. The closest posting he could get was Singapore. Steve and Maureen married in Ceylon on the 7th of September 1953, and within two years of living in Singapore, they had their first daughter, Daphne. Steve and Maureen then returned to the UK for his last posting, having served 12 years. The new small family lived in a few different places throughout the UK and within a couple more years, the family grew again with the birth of their second daughter, Gilly.

Steve’s travel bug and desire for adventure brought the family to Australia for a new and exciting life. Steve spent some time working for the Snowy Mountains Authority in Cooma, NSW, and was proud of this achievement. Although he spent the majority of his working life in the Canberra, Steve continued to travel and seek adventures, frequently popping back to the UK to visit family and friends.

The last 14 years he spent on Bribie Island close to his family. In his retirement Steve made the most of his time being involved in various organisations, constantly learning and tinkering with new things. He had a great love for gardening, carpentry, photography and videography filming everyone and everything.

Steve said he had lived a wonderful life and had achieved all he had wanted to. He remained a brave and true gentleman to the end.