Our Dad Neville (Chalky to many), was a husband, a father, a pop, a brother and a good mate.

He was born on 4 October 1939, the third child of parents Richard and Neta Allen who lived at “Rosemount”.  Dad had four siblings, Daphne, Keith, Elvy and Lindsay. They were all very close as were all his brothers and sisters in-law.

They often called in for a chat at his shop or more recently a cup of tea or a beer at home. They were not just family they were good friends and mates.

Dad was known as ‘chalky’ (because of his skinny white legs) since his school days at Daroobalgie. He was not a highly educated man. He rode to school on a horse, he was a farmer's son. He left school at 14. He was a simple, common man, BUT what made him uncommon was his ability to relate to anyone. He was genuine and honest and fiercely loyal to his mates of whom he had so many and from all walks of life.

He took on a hairdressing apprenticeship with Les Brown, as well as Bobby Grant and Noel Murray, who became friends for life, before opening his own shop. He met Alice at Y/A’s and became a loyal husband in 1963, she was the love of his life. They saved hard and built their first home in Elliott Street where they lived for many years and had three children Brent, Debra and Geoff.

Dad loved farming – he worked very hard. He was up early delivering milk on his milk run or feeding the pigs before working all day at the shop and then going back at the end of the day, to make sure his animals were OK. Mum and Dad saved up to buy a small block of land near the high school for his beloved horses. In time they bought a farm at Inchgower, and sold the block. Eventually they bought the new farm on the Parkes road and built their dream home “Bagadanara”, which was all our initials put together. Family was everything to dad. In fact we have a few dad stories to share.

While Dad was looking around Uncle Lindsay’s farm with Brent and Geoff, Debra was getting to know the new baby Kerry. Unfortunately later as Dad was half way home the boys asked him “Where’s Deb”, he quickly turned the car around and said “Don’t tell mum”. What do you think was the first thing the kids said to mum?

Times were different back then, we loved joining Dad to “pick up the money from the shop”. We knew he was going to the pub to catch up with his mates; a lemon squash and a packet of chips would soon be ours!

Debra came out with a new choice word she learnt at school and Mum was upset and told Dad to wash her mouth out with soap. Debra had him crying too as her tooth fell out. He didn’t know it was loose but Debra sure did and she knew just how soft inside he was! Dad refused to ever do it again.

Dad knew how protective Alice was. She hated motorbikes so when Brent cut his neck on barbwire, dad took him straight to hospital and when he came home Dad told Brent to stay in the car so he could tell Mum. Mum took one look at his face and asked “where’s Brent”. He didn’t get a chance to explain.

Dads other love was trotting horses. He and Mum had a share in Teramby Princess, who won the pink bonnet race at Harold Park in 1981. As Geoff got older, they got involved with other trotters together and bought a few more horses.  Mum was not so impressed as the numbers grew. The day after dad spent money on yet another horse - Mum ordered new carpet! Geoff recalls Mum could never understand how it took five-and-a-half hours to get home from Dubbo or Temora. The fact that they chose to stop and check the horses outside certain pubs on the way home was sheer coincidence. I suspect mum knew what was going on!

Brent encouraged Dad to go to Gallipoli with him just a few years ago. Although Dad was hesitant to go so far away from mum, he had the time of his life exploring Turkey with Brent and strengthening their bond. The spicy food, however, was another matter.

Dad loved the trip but not the flying, he kissed the ground when he arrived safely back in Australia! This was a common theme after all his trips. He had travelled to England and Canada with Mum previously making many precious memories together. Fittingly, he had won the pub draw which helped pay for the Canada trip. Mum wondered if he was drunk when he rang saying “pack your bags we're going to Canada!”.

He was an amazing father to all three of us. He welcomed each of our partners Peter, Wendy and Jenny into our family and had a special bond with them too. As we got older, he became a mentor to us all but most of all a mate. He was soft and compassionate. He never failed to tell us he loved us and give us a big hug and a kiss.

Dad (pop) loved each of his grandchildren passionately, as they came along, Andrew, Rachel, Jade, Lauren and Jack. Each of the grandchildren loved him. He made them all feel special. He was acutely aware of all of them and their individual needs. He was so excited to know he was going to be a great grandfather soon with Andrew and Alicia telling him just a few weeks ago.        

He was also looking forward to Rachel and Nick's wedding in April. He was looking forward to all their futures. They all should know he was extremely proud of them and I’m sure he’ll be watching as they reach their special moments over the coming years.

Dad was a barber in town in Templar Street. He stood next to that chair for 63 years. If he is not the longest serving barber we are going to be claiming him as the best. He cut four generations of some families' hair. He listened to everyone and people felt safe telling him their dramas and their struggles. He enjoyed their dreams and their successes too. He didn’t judge. He knew everything going on in town. He was still cutting a few friends' hair on the back verandah. They simply didn’t want to go to anyone else.

Was he opinionated? Yes, but he didn’t force them on others.

He wasn’t a comedian either, but he heard some of the funniest stories and jokes ever told. He tried to tell us the jokes around the table and he managed to give us a laugh. Sometimes because they were funny and sometimes because he stuffed them up. As we got older he shared different jokes and you could often hear Mum say “Ohh, Neville!”.

In fact he was involved in one of those funny stories himself. It was reported in column 8 in the Herald and he was the butt of many one eyed trouser snake stories for years.

He loved a beer with his mates. He kept all his mates – old and new. Some mates are from Y/A’s, rodeo and Apex who Mum and Dad still kept in touch with. They have relabeled their group Apex over 50’s, then over 60’s and now over 70’s! Mum still tells the stories from when the Apex men got together, he was late home one night when they had small kids and she was sick of it, so she put his dinner in the freezer. She was having a giggle to herself as she could hear the crunching of it. He decided not to be quite so late the next time! He had mates everywhere and it would take hours to list you all, but suffice to say he had a special connection with all of you.

He loved his sport and his champions. He wiped away a tear when they succeeded and sometimes when they lost. He loved his horses, watching the boys soccer matches, the Forbes Magpies, and Parramatta too. The fact he has kept loving Parramatta shows the depth of his loyalty.

He loved his farm, his vegie patch, his animals and that earthy way of life.  For those who do not know, on Tuesday afternoon he had a cuppa with mum, watched a show together and went out onto his tractor. He would not have wished it any other way.

We would like to thank the Ambulance, Nurses and Doctors who were working on Tuesday night. They gave us so much support. We would also like to thank Kathy Barrett who is the best neighbor to Mum and Dad, Janelle Green for stopping and finally but certainly not least, as a family, we would like to thank Henry Nash for trying so hard to assist our Dad. Your efforts were so much appreciated – it means the world to us. You should be really proud of yourself and we hope to meet you soon.

Dad wasn’t a sporting hero, he wasn’t a war hero. He was a genuine caring man. A husband of 55 years he was our mate, our hero. We love you dad and you will always be remembered fondly and missed terribly.

Bob Young and Peter Moore also gave personal accounts of Neville and his friends over the years.