CHRISTISON, Robert Noel

CHRISTISON, Robert Noel

12-Apr-1947 - 06-Aug-2020

Our King has fallen, Beloved Husband, Father, Brother and Poppy, his pride and dedication to providing for his family lent the means to always be there to save any situation. You wouldn't think it to look at such a cuddly old guy but he was always ready to put in the hard labour himself rather than hire people. He had such strength to do it himself no matter how old he was or the pain his knees put him in.

He lived by his own rules, had such a presence and let's face it, volume level that you couldn't ignore, whether it was roaring laughter, a booming sneeze or losing his cool you always knew it was dad. We playfully called him Vader and I would quote "your powers are weak old man" when we would muck around, but they never were. He truly was a king. He provided so much, his people were his priority and his presence was undeniable.

That's not to say he wasn't a man of the people, dad was a mate's mate, making people laugh, playfully teasing and providing running commentary. He's the bloke at the BBQ with a beer in hand paying little attention to the food but somehow it never burns. He'll drink you under the table and if there's prawns you better get in quick because no one peels them faster. Well, his niece Tracey gave him a run for his money one year so I guess she's the champ now.

All that said It is difficult to ignore his very logical and practical side which at times could feel harsh but I will always remember this very practical and logical man seeing what my broken toy meant to me as a child and going out to his garage for literal hours trying to fix it even though he knew it was probably impossible.

That was dad though, you wouldn't think such a big guy could do the things he did, felling trees by himself in his fifties, diving off his yacht to retrieve ropes (or his cat) in his sixties, rigging and sailing a yacht with no crew at the same age, growing to love his cat Mysha despite hating cats for years after one undid hours of cracking open crabs by eating all the meat.

Dad did everything for family but in his dreams nothing called to him like the wind, whether flying through it as a flight engineer for QANTAS or harnessing it to sail across the sea, the wind was his second home, even when he stopped sailing he still became a champion in RC sailing.

In this digital age we choose screen names, he chose Windwalker, that's what he was, that's what he did for a living, that was his dream and that's how he should be remembered.