This obituary was compiled by Di Grant with the help of Norm McLarty’s family.
Our district’s well-known and respected community member, Norm McLarty of Northwood, passed away on February 24, aged 95.
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Nearly 250 attended his funeral, and Norm was given a guard of honour from the Wirrate and Hilldene fire brigades.
This was a wonderful show of respect for a humble, selfless man who gave so much to his community, farm and family.
Norm was incredibly kind, thoughtful and considerate, and he never wanted to inconvenience anybody. So in 2018, he wrote his eulogy, which I believe every older person should do for their family.
So here are some of his words and his family’s contributions.
Norm will be remembered by many people in many walks of life, from his farming to his poetry, the Northwood School committee for 10 years, and as chairman of his son Gary’s Scouts committee.
He was involved in Little Athletics with daughters Valerie and Nola, where he became the club’s chairman, district chair and a life member of Little Athletics.
Norm was president of the Northwood Tennis Club for 20 years, the Seymour Show Society president for two years, and was awarded life membership.
He served on the Wirrate and Hilldene fire brigades for more than 50 years. For over 30 years he was Life Governor of the Karingal Hostel committee in Seymour.
He has been involved with the Northwood Tennis Club and the Northwood Reserve committee since its formation.
He was a life member of the Seymour Agricultural and Pastoral Society, the Seymour Show Society, and dog trials.
He was a life member of the Seymour Old Time Dance Association, and one of the nicest pieces of recognition for his community work was when he was honoured on Australia Day as the Seymour Citizen of the Year for 1993. I was able to take his photograph for the paper with the then-Victorian Deputy Premier Pat McNamara.
Insight into a life well lived
Norman Thomas McLarty was born in the Seymour Hospital on Tuesday, February 19, 1929.
He lived with his mum, dad, brother Keith, and sisters Elva and Joy at “Woodsomlea”.
He was introduced to milking cows and feeding calves at an early age and caught rabbits as soon as he was able to set rabbit traps.
He attended the Northwood School, and he only missed it when he caught measles.
He obtained his Grade 8 Merit Certificate, travelling to Seymour High School for the exams, and regretted the day he left school.
Norm began shearing at about 17, travelling to different sheds around the district.
In the early days, the pushbike was Norm’s primary means of getting to the sheds, which he had used for over 20 years.
He has always working. Norm helped his mum with milking the cows when he could, and at an early age, he took on rouseabouting duties and soon became a shearer, continuing to shear until his 80s.
Norm and his brother Keith bought the Hogans’ farm around 1950 and partnered for several years before going out on their own.
After their parents both passed away in 1961, they bought out their sister’s shares on the farm.
Norm married Kathleen May Hovey in 1958, and at first they lived in a little removable home, shifting into Grandma and Grandpa’s place after they died in 1961.
Norm and Kath had five children: Faye, Gary, Pamela, Nola and Valerie, whom Norm said, “Kath and I were very proud of, and I am still”.
On “Woodsomlea”, the family farm, Norm cleared the land of stumps, fenced most of it into smaller paddocks and sowed it with clover and other grasses.
He had about 20 dams built to provide each paddock with water for the sheep “with some success”, he said.
Kath and he bought about 500 acres from J. Sleigh about 40 years ago, and about 53 years ago, they built a shearing shed and have since made it a lot bigger.
Mum was always involved with the shearing.
Norm spent most of his life trying to eradicate rabbits, skinning and selling them in Melbourne.
Norm lived and worked his whole life on his beloved farm in Northwood, “Woodsomlea”, with his wife Kath and their five children. But sadly, Kath passed away in 2009. I had the honour of conducting her funeral.
With the help of his family, Norm managed to continue living on the farm until a month before he passed.
Norm was diagnosed with a brain tumour more than 10 years ago; this interfered with his balance but did not stop him from looking after Kath’s garden and using his ride-on mower to keep “Woodsomlea” neat and tidy and to prepare for the fire season.
After Kath’s passing, Norm continued to look after Kath’s museum, a collection of different things Kath had collected over the years, including historical items.
Once, along with members of the Anglican Mother’s Union group, I was honoured to visit Kath and Norm’s museum.
We enjoyed seeing all the beautiful times captured in the collection and had a delicious afternoon tea.
Many will have known and been lucky to experience Norm reciting poems.
I recall hearing Norm recite Australian poems at the Anglican Church’s meals for the elderly in the church hall a few times and was astounded at how he could recite such long poetic sagas.
“Reciting old bush poems has given him a lot of enjoyment, and probably the most enjoyable was around the campfires when travelling around the outback with Swagman tours and for others,” Norm said.
He had the most fantastic memory — a wonderful storyteller of days gone by, particularly on the history of Northwood.
Norm was highly regarded as he had an incredible knowledge of local history, having lived in Northwood his whole life.
He would gather each Saturday morning at his beloved Northwood Reserve to meet with other local Northwood residents.
Norm was still helping out in the sheep yards well into his 80s and still helping out with crutching in the shearing shed in November last year.
Never again will a life lived like Norm’s ever be repeated.
From riding to school five miles on horseback and living in a house with dirt floors and no electricity, to today’s modern technology — the man had seen a lot of change in his life and took it in his real Aussie stride.
He was true blue!
Rest in peace, Norm McLarty.
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