FORDHAM Frank Fordham 1907 - 1991
Obituary. Adapted from the eulogy given by the Reverend Lindsay Smith on the occasion of Frank's funeral service at Rowville Baptist Church on Monday 12th August 1991.
Frank Fordham was born in Footscray on 9th October 1907. He grew up there and was apprenticed to a plasterer before moving to Rowville in 1920.
Frank met and married his wife Constance (Connie) and they moved in with Frank's parents in Bergins Road and worked on the twenty acre farm there growing vegetables. Frank was a good farmer and was very fond of his Clydesdales, his favourite being Baldy.
Frank knew hard times - he remembered having only nine pence in his pocket when one of his daughters was born - but he was a hard worker. As the economy improved in the early fifties, Frank found work again as a plasterer and was involved in the plastering of the present Police Academy in Glen Waverley. He and Connie built their home in Heany Park Road in 1951. It was on tank water then and still is on tank water today.
Frank sold all of his Rowville land except the house block in the late 1960s and early 1970s and bought a grazing property at Nar Nar Goon where he was happy grubbing out tussocks and stumps to improve the pastures. With advancing years he sold that property in 1988 but still kept himself busy with his vegetable plot beside the house.
During his active years Frank was:
- Captain of the Rowville Fire Brigade;
- A member of the Progress Association;
- A Ranger of the Heany Park Recreation Reserve;
- A member of the Rowville-Lysterfield Gymkhana Committee;
- A member of the William Angliss Hospital Auxiliary;
- A member of the Scoresby State School Committee and
- an active participant in the life and work of the Rowville Baptist Church.
Frank believed in the community and he lived to promote its development. He was a marvellous support to Connie and he stood by her in everything they worked at together. He never beat around the bush - he was honest, he spoke his mind and he was respected for it. However, he was very much a family man; he loved his children, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They all thought of their "Pa" as a wonderful man.
Lindsay Smith
First published in the October 1991 edition of the Rowville-Lysterfield Community News.
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