Since my last post and this one a lot had happened. On the Saterday 30th of June a we had Bob's wake in the frontgarden. It was a small occasion. Now that I look back at it, do not know what Bob would think about it because he lived almost like a hermit. We are glad we did it and had the support of our close friends and neighbours.
This is what Alice had to say about her father.
My dad lived a very long life. Born 9th of October 1928, he passed away in his home of the past 23 years on the 6th of June 2007 at the age of 78. Hobart Broos was born in Petjangaan on the island of Java in Indonesia to dutch-indonesian parents. Older brother to Rob and younger brother to Wynand (or Nandi), they lived a peaceful life running amuck at a rice plantation until the Japanese invasion during World War 2.
After the war my father suffered hard times as a teenager being put into concentration camps by the Indonesians where he was beaten tortured and starved almost to death. After this time, he studied hard to finish high school while working as a police man. Just before his final exams, he found out where the police superintendent was going to place him in the community. Immediately after this knowledge, my father decided to go to the doctor where he was medically disqualified due to a bad lung infection. He would not have survived in the place where the superintendent wanted to place him because policemen were specifically targeted by the freedom fighters of Indonesia.
Because of all the troubles in Indonesia and the discrimination against the dutch by the Indonesians, he went with the last boat out of Indonesia before the independence to Dutch New Guinea (now Irian Jaya) where he worked hard and became a hydro-engineer. After several years, he started a trucking business with Rob with left-over trucks left behind by the Americans after the war. He was the first to import a truck from Australia to Dutch New Guinea.
At this time, Indonesian soldiers were infiltrating Dutch New Guinea and my father decided to move on towards the United States of America with a visa in his pocket. This was in 1958.
He travelled via Australia but did not have an entry visa, luckily customs let him into the country and he came into contact with Peter Rusch of the dutch consulate, who convinced him to get a visa and stay in Australia.
I remember one story of dad’s first impression of Australia was his first trip to the bakery. He asked Peter, “What are they selling here? Hot piss?!” To Peter’s reply, “No sorry Hob, it’s hot pies…not piss”. Gotta love dutch translations.
After trying several jobs, he went to Mount Isa and worked in the mines. When first meeting the miners, he was asked what his name was. When he replied Hobart, this was too difficult for the miners to comprehend and pronounce so it was shortened to Bob.
In 1960, he went with holidays to Holland but unintentionally got married and had a daughter. Dad decided to come back to Australia because the weather was too cold in Holland but Cato did not wish to come. Unfortunately, they divorced several years later without Cato ever coming to Australia.
When my father returned from Holland, he went to Tasmania, which funnily enough is similar to the dutch weather. Peter, the guy from the dutch consulate, also helped him here with a job in the zinc works.
After some years in Tasmania, Dad went to Sydney where he worked as a truck driver. In 1970, he went to Brisbane where he met my mum and by the end of 1971 they married. Between ’72 and ’74, dad became an interstate truck driver. In 1974, my parents went to Melbourne where they lived for 10 years. In 1984, they came back to Brisbane, built this house and in 1985 I was born. Dad was always playing with me, when I was a baby and as a toddler.
Dad had his own remedies for curing everything and for staying healthy. Eucalyptus oil for the lungs, he breathed it in everyday and everyday I heard him coughing afterwards because he breathed it in too much. By the time I was in high school, Dad was getting quite bad arthritis in the joints of his hands and knees and was treating himself with a bunch of creams like dencorub and later emu oil to help relieve the pain. Isocol, dettol and mentholated spirits were regularly used for itchy bites. Tea tree oil was also used for fungal infections on the toes. Dad always loved the beach, especially the salty sea, he always said it was the perfect remedy for clearing up the skin and any acne.
He really loved Jaynne, our dog. Sometimes I got the feeling that he loved the dog more than he loved us. Anytime dad (and the family) left to go anywhere for several hours, such as going to visit an aunt of mine in Caboolture, or to Hennie and Robs place or when picking me up from swimming or dancing after school or even my high school graduation, the dog always came with us. They had a very close relationship that I feel Jaynne will never forget.
Even up to the day he passed away, he was exercising every day with chin-ups, windmills, pulling hard springs (spring chest pull) and walking around the property with Jaynne, feeding the birds everyday, watering the plants and general maintenance of the place.
Dad was as fit as a fiddle (besides the usual old age aches and pains) until about the beginning of last year. Then he started to feel a lot more pain and of course, was stubborn enough not to go to the doctor for several months. Dad had many problems with his body but we never thought that it would be his heart that would fail him in the end. He died at about 5.10pm on the 6th of June, 2007 at home. I got a phone call at 8.32am where I was still in bed in Glasgow and not expecting such an important phone call. I really loved my dad and I know that he loved me too. I’ll always treasure the good times with him… maybe not so much the bad times but you get that with every family.
I just want to say one last thing. Thank you, all of you for coming today. Mum and I really appreciate all the support that we’ve had the past few weeks during this difficult time for us. Thank you.
After this Alice mentioned that I had received so many cards and letters from quilters from all over the world. Like Holland, America, Turkey, Belgium. Hope I have all countries. Thank you ladies, you have been a marvelous help to me over this difficult time.
