Ted Hay passed away on 23rd January 2021. His funeral service was held at St Mary's Catholic Church Orange on Saturday 30th January 2021 with Father Paul Devitt conducting the service, which was followed by a private cremation at the Canobolas Gardens Crematorium.
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His eulogy which follows was written by the family and read by Ted's sister Ann.
Edward John Hay, better known as Ted or Teddie, a unique character right from the day he was welcomed into this world. Born on a Wednesday, the 4th of September 1946. Second child for Jo and Jack Hay, little brother to Ann, and later older brother to Ron and Greg, the curly headed, chubby faced Ted was a busy little fellow. Ever so active, running around after his father Jack and always wanting to help. He started school at St Joseph's Eugowra. He loved his football from a young age, and Bobby and Roger Ross were his best friends.
Ted played a lot of tennis, rode his bike everywhere, shot rabbits with his slug gun behind the old Eugowra hospital and loved going with his Dad in the truck delivering timber. He had a vivid imagination, once telling his Mum that he had killed six white snakes with his slug gun. His father, very in tune with Ted's young business mind, knew that if this had been true, Ted would already be trying to sell these 6 white snake skins on the black market.
At the tender age of 9, Ted began to show his true entrepreneurial skills. He would load up the cart with off-cuts of timber and assign old 'Patch' the draught horse to carry the load. Off they would go delivering wood around town as kindling for peoples' fires, little Teddy holding his hand out for payment at each stop. He really had the idyllic childhood growing up in a country village with lots of mates.
Ted's entrepreneurial skills continued to blossom as he began his high school education as a boarder at St Stanislaus College, Bathurst. The boys received only one cube of butter for each meal, hardly enough to spread the copious amounts of bread provided in order to fill them up. His sister Ann was at Bathurst Teachers' College at the time, so Ted asking her to bring him a pound of butter each week when she went to visit him. Ted would keep half a pound for himself and cut the other half into cubes, to sell to the other boarders. He was also known for escaping the College via the water channels then in Bathurst, sneaking down to Machattie Park, fishing out money from the water fountain (not stealing), before heading to Heath's Café for a hamburger. Such a rogue... but a fun-loving rogue!
He returned to the family sawmill after completing his intermediate certificate. It was here Ted's Father instilled an incredibly strong work ethic in him and possibly where Ted developed his innate sense of business.
At age 21, at a dance at the Goolagong log cabin Ted met and fell in love with Julie Noble. Their first date was a football game in Narromine.
Despite Julie going to the dance with another beau, Ted and Julie were meant to be. Marrying in February 1970, it was the beginning of a 50 year long marriage. They then went on to have four beautiful children... Julianne, Stephen, Monica and Nicole. Ted was always keen on having 'even numbers' so that each sibling would have a friend.
Whilst always a family man, Ted continued to be a hard worker. A lot of his time as a young Dad was spent carting pumpkins and falling trees out in the forest. Steve has fond memories of travelling in the log truck to Tottenham and Julie packing them lunch in Ted's orange tin esky.
Ted had a love for water. Many an afternoon/ weekend as a child was spent at Horseshoe Lagoon near Eugowra with mates on an old raft they made from timber planks and old 44 gallon drums, and later as a Dad taking the family water-skiing to Wyangala Dam. Each January their annual holiday were spent there. He would spend hours on the water in the ski boat, teaching his own kids, cousins and friends how to ski. At sun down he would swap the boat for a beer and a barbie, enjoying the company of good friends.
Family meant the world to Ted and he loved his four kids dearly. With their best interests at heart, he was big on giving his 'two bobs worth', attempting to guide them in the right direction. This advice sometimes came without warning... Ted decided one Friday night that no son of his would be hanging out down town on the cafe corner. The following Monday morning Steve had his bags packed and was off to boarding school at Stannies. Ted's advice was sometimes ignored though... 'Invest your money in property Nicole', so Nicole invested her money in an overseas trip. 'Don't you go marrying a foreigner and stay overseas Nicole', so what did Nicole do? You guessed it... and sometimes this advice came with an 'I told you so'... 'Monica, you should just stay home and study at Charles Sturt Uni in Bathurst - 3 years and two universities later, Mon continued her studies at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
Socially dynamic, charismatic and personally gregarious, Ted was a fabulous friend to many. He loved a good time, playing host to many a social occasion, particularly in the Apex days. The family home was known as the 'Do Drop In'... where many great friends would call in to say g'day and often stay well into the evening. Spontaneous parties at the Hay residence were not uncommon. Apex seemed to be where Ted flourished. He enjoyed meeting regularly with mates, voluntarily working on community projects and having a great laugh with a beer in hand once the work was done.
In 1987 Ted's publican life began when he and brother Ron purchased the lease of the Fat Lamb Hotel in Eugowra. This was the start of what would become a very long career in the pub game... and he loved every bit of it. One of the biggest challenges of Ted's life was when the family home that he had built, burnt to the ground. He took a few weeks to dwell on the situation before forming a new plan to move forward. This was a true example of Ted's ability to bounce back from adversity and make the most of a bad situation.
The family moved to Orange where Ted and Julie built a new family home and bought their first business. Ted worked hard in the Newsagency, serving customers with Julie during the day, and delivering newspapers in the early hours of each morning. But Ted had his heart set on buying another pub. When the opportunity presented itself for Ted and Julie to buy The Alpine Hotel in Cooma, they took it. A big risk at the time, Ted's attitude was 'you don't want to die not knowing'. Those days were an experience, but too far from home.
Not long after, Ted and Julie returned to Millthorpe. Following a brief stint in the Railway Hotel, they then purchased the Forest Reefs Tavern... this was Ted's favourite pub and his happy place for the next 18 years. An avid Rabbitohs supporter, Ted would have his special set of South Sydney bar mats that he would put out each time the Rabbits had a win. Apart from the 2014 Grand final, these mats remained quite clean.
There was no doubt that Ted was a people person, taking his role as the PR man very seriously... 'I'll get you one for the road' he'd say. For some patrons that road was very long, intending to pop into the tavern for one or two and still finding themselves there at close. I'm sure many of you here today can relate to that. It would be fair to say that Ted lived life to the fullest, working hard and playing hard, making the most of every day! Unfortunately, Ted's ill health forced the sale of the Tavern.
Years of working long hours, often seven days a week, suddenly came to an end. Ted was fortunate and very grateful to have had such a caring, loving and patient wife in Julie, supporting every business decision made and working together as a team. Sadly, any retirement plans that Ted and Julie had were short lived, as Ted was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia.
Finally, I would like to reflect with some poetic words adapted from Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem "The Successful Man" as a tribute to Ted's life of love and achievement:
That man is a success
Who has lived well, laughed often and loved much;
Who has gained the respect of intelligent men and women
And the love of children;
Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
Who leaves the world better than he found it,
Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty
Or failed to express it:
Who looked for the best in others,
And gave the best he had.
In the words of Ted... 'Weight's right mate... Hooroo!'