Stuart Frederick Davis

A Tribute to Stuart Frederick Davis

Stuart Frederick Davis was born on November 5th, 1939, in Burwood, and, as he liked to jokingly say for better or for worse, WWII started two weeks later.  

He passed away peacefully in his sleep on Easter Sunday, April 9, aged 83 at Hope Island on the Gold Coast with loving family by his side. He will be missed by many far and wide.  

Stuart is survived by his wife of 60 years, Patricia Gay, and their children Kerri and Craig.

Born in Sydney, the family moved to Adelong at an early age where he spent most of his School days including boarding School at Canberra Grammar. He moved to Sydney to start his career at AML & F where he met Patricia Gay Reddie. 

Stuart and Gay were married in Mosman in 1962 and went on to establish their first family home in West Pennant Hills throughout the 1960s and 70s, before relocating to Killarney Heights in 1976, where the family grew strong connections in the local community through Stuart's great passion for Rugby Union, and where their children completed primary and high school studies.  

Stuart was a Rugby Union tragic and therefore so very proud of his son, Craig's early beginning in rugby as a 5-year-old with the Killarney Shamrocks Under 7's a year early, allowing for an extra year in the U7's. Stuart also coached several teams in the Shamrocks' infancy sharing any insights he could as a grade referee to help grow the club and share the rugby camaraderie, running exciting Shamrocks recruitment days, sausage sizzles, guest appearances of 1st grade players and including one-year when he arranged for the original Chitty Chitty Bang Bang flying concept car from the movie of the same name that his company boss owned (who was a car enthusiast), to be at Killarney Oval as a recruitment draw card, as marketing was one of his natural skills. He also arranged for the Shamrocks Under 9's team to play a halftime exhibition game at the 1979 Australia v Ireland rugby test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, noting the synergy between the team heritage, which furthermore allowed the young namesake Shamrocks team to participate in a training session with the Irish test team at Double Bay days before the game.

During the 1960's he played for Manly and then Mosman and became President of Mosman Rugby Club in 1966. Stuart went on to become a highly decorated referee presiding over more than 700 grade games including games in the UK, Fiji, and New Zealand, and he also received the Australian Sports Medal from Queen Elisabeth II in 2000 for 40 years of services to Rugby Union. He was also instrumental in many committee roles within the Sydney and NSW Referees Associations, NSW and Australian Rugby Union marketing chairman and serving and managing Sub-District rugby both in Sydney and later on the Gold Coast, volunteering his time to help grow the code he loved so much whenever he could. His love of Rugby Union made him a well-known and respected member of the Rugby community locally but also abroad. His biggest game was refereeing the curtain raiser for the Australia vs. Wales Test match in the 1970's. Needless to say, he ate, breathed, and slept Rugby Union but he especially enjoyed the sense of community that the game brought with it and the many, many friends he made from rugby.

Stuart's working career began at AML & F as a wool valuer and buyer, then as a pharmaceutical salesman before becoming marketing manager with Trident Television where he made great inroads as colour TV became the next big thing in 1975. He held some other marketing roles before joining Hunter Douglas as marketing manager, and eventually became general manager of the Luxaflex window furnishing division, before leading the Blindmakers Independent Group Distribution network, importing from Europe, Asia, and the USA. This small business became a family affair with Gay and Amy (Kerri's Maltese terrier) running the office, and Craig running the accounts and managing the warehouse. Stuart was also very proud of Kerri's successful professional career in the UK and Europe, where he and Gay visited her and where he arranged for Gay and Kerri to tour their favourite places Nice, Monte Carlo, and Portofino. 

Stuart and Gay semi-retired to Wagga Wagga where they made many close friends and then retired to Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast where they enjoyed the warm weather, watching rugby, and family visits, especially from his 1-year-old granddaughter who loved to spend time with him.   

Vale SFD, thanks for being a shining light and taking great care of your family.   

Love always, Gay, Kerri & Craig x