Bernie Laffy Obituary
Bernie was born in Wangaratta Hospital and lived in King Valley as a child. He died after a short illness. This was hard to bear because no one expected it. It was during the time of Covid 19 and only limited people could visit him in hospital. He was diagnosed with leukaemia shortly before going into hospital for treatment of this condition. He did not appear to be ill. The day after he was diagnosed he digressed from his daily walk of 6 kilometres a day to see us when we visited our son and his family in Middle Park. It was no big deal him coming to see us. Of course we did not know he was going to die. I did not even take a photograph. He contracted golden staph in hospital. He could not talk on his mobile phone. I did not expect him to die. I miss him terribly. He was one of these people who only had good in them. He was an extremely moral person. For most of his life he was a devout Catholic and he never deviated from the responsibilities this entailed. I would mercilessly tease him about it. He never wavered until later in life and then he wavered considerably. We went to school together but were never in the same form. We were friends although he had his close friends and I was never a member of this set. In his teenage years he was a keen bike rider. He rode with his friends all over the north east. The bike riding club he belonged to was popular and he had some success in competition. We left school at the same time and wondered what we would do with our lives. We didnt know if we could be good at anything. For one wonderful summer he had a pet yearling calf which he trained into thinking it was a horse. He allowed us to ride it with him. We would ride it to the river. And sometimes into the river. Whatever happened to this wonderful animal. We applied for various jobs. We both applied to the Commonwealth Bank. I thought that Bernie was accepted but maybe he wasnt. I was not accepted. I did the test in green ink and I think this was held against me. In time he became a Police Cadet. I also applied to be a Police Cadet. We applied together on the same day. I said I wanted to be a detective. Again I was not accepted. Bernie was accepted. He was Police Cadet for some years and he was based at the Police Barracks in St Kilda Road no longer there. Bernie stayed in the Police Force when his Cadetship came to an end. He more or less enjoyed his time in the Police Cadets and made several long term friendships. He then had a career of several years in the Police Force. Our paths in life sometime crossed and for a short time we both lived in the same boarding house. This was enjoyable. From time to time he would live in the Russel Street Police barracks. I only once visited him there. He had just finished eating with his friend Neil Sherritt from Beechworth who also was a Police Officer. I wonder what happened to him. Bernie should have had a dream run in the Police Force and ended up close to the top echelons but he didnt. He did not tick the right boxes. He had integrity. He was of good character. He was honest. Incorruptible. He had moral standards. He was tolerant of human flaws. He was always fair. He considered both sides. He never took advantage. He was never a bully. He never used his authority improperly. He was never aggressive with the public. We know that none of these things are ever taken into consideration when considering Police for promotion. Unfortunately. So he missed out on promotion and went on to other things. He married Anne and in time they raised two well adjusted children. These children have gone on to have successful lives. He took great delight in his family and loved them all to distraction. He took great delight in his grandchildren. And he enjoyed looking after his children dogs. He and Anne had a shop in Waverly Gardens for some time. He enjoyed it. I know he worked hard. I called on him unexpectedly one day and he invited me in. I noted he had a good system for keeping his lay-by’s until they were fully paid. Although I lived in Ferntree Gully and could have called on him frequently I only once visited him at the shop. But I stayed the whole day and enjoyed myself. I liked being in his company. In later life when he was living in Port Melbourne I guess I saw more of him. He was an expert at picking a good pub to have a meal in. He always had an easy familiarity with the landlord or staff. We had some good meals but in hindsight not enough. We had more planned but unfortunately they never came to fruition. He will be missed by those who knew him.
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