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When I am gone, if you care for me,
Raise up no stone, just plant a tree.
Plant it where no tides will reach,
Plant it there beyond the beach.
Where oft I've watched the dawn unfold
To wash the sky with rose and gold
And dim the stars and one by one
They shield their eyes to watch the sun.
Awake and rise and day is born!
The verse I have just recited is the first stanza of a poem called "Just Plant a Tree", written by
Claude Morris.
Claude was born in 1908, in the
old tin mining town of Watsonville, just west of
Herberton, the youngest of five children, with
his brothers Billy, Jack and Roy and his sister
Daisy all pre-deceasing him.
His family moved to Kulara, a little town near
Yungaburra, but long since covered by the
waters of Lake Tinaroo. Here Claude received
his schooling, and on leaving school, worked for
a short time with the Main Roads, and then for
six months at the Atherton Butter Factory,
before joining the Queensland Railways as a lad
porter at Mareeba and Millaa Millaa.
He met his
future wife of 65 years, Florence May Minns, in
Mareeba and they were married in Atherton in
February 1931, and they made their first home
in Millaa Millaa where their two children
Daphne and Donald were born. Railway workers
were always on the move in those days, and
during his years of Railway service as Night
Officer and Station Master, he later worked and
lived in Mareeba, Tolga, Bowen, Longford
Creek, Gordonvale, Cairns, Cardwell and El
Arish, where he took early retirement in 1971.
Upon his retirement they lived in Gordonvale,
Edmonton and then back to Gordonvale to 11
Buzacott St. After breaking a hip in 1993, and
coupled with the complications of Parkinson's
Disease, his life took a downward turn. This
misfortune eventually led to a forced move,
together with his wife Flo, to the Pyramid
Retirement Home, where they both remained
until recently when failing health caused them
both to be admitted to the Mary Potter nursing
home in Cairns. Sadly, Claude could not accept
this last change to his life style, and his health
quickly deteriorated with death coming quickly
and peacefully at 1p.m. on Friday Sept 20.
Claude is survived by his widow Flo, and his
daughter Daphne Stocks, son Donald and six
grand children and sixteen great grand children.
Claude devoted almost his whole working life to
the Queensland Railways and applied himself
selflessly to his calling. He belonged to that rare
breed of honest men, and never knew the
meaning of the word "dishonesty". In fact in this
day and age he was too honest, and his honesty
was only matched by his profound integrity, and
he was held in the highest regard by all who
knew him.
He was a good sportsman in his younger days
and played both Rugby League and Cricket with
considerable flair, and he played his last game of
cricket at the ripe old age of 43. When he moved
to Bowen, Longford Creek and Cardwell,
fishing became his favourite pastime, and upon
retiring, he turned his attention to fossicking and
gem stone collecting, and together he and Flo
spent many happy years roaming the rugged
North Queensland bushland that he loved so
passionately. Age gradually took its toll on his
outdoor activities, and the last eleven of his 88
years were spent relatively quietly in
Gordonvale.
He was a very gifted and accomplished poet,
and his retirement allowed him to devote more
time to his natural gift, and his little anthology
of bush poetry featuring most of his poems and
entitled "The Legend of Angel Creek and Other
Ballads", is a glowing tribute to his prowess as a
master of rhyme and descriptive and humorous
verse, and no doubt will provide a legacy for
generations of Australians to come. Claude's
poetry was a mirror to his character and inner
self, and his soul he laid bare with the magical
use of his written words. No doubt with his
impending passing in mind, the last words
Claude penned to you, his relatives and friends,
were typical of the man and provide a fitting
epitaph for a person of such exceptional quality.
Those last written words were as follows:
"Good bye old friends, long night extends
To stretch from shore to shore,
When you and I must say goodbye
Perhaps, forever more".
Claude Morris, Rest in Peace.
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