John De Coite paid tribute to his father and uncle on Anzac Day.By Casey Neill
FERNTREE Gully has farewelled war veteran and local identity Bob De Coite just days after paying tribute to the Australians who served the nation in war.
Robert James De Coite died suddenly on Friday 18 April, aged 85.
Mr De Coite enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 1940 as an 18-year-old.
He saw fierce fighting while on board the HMAS Ballarat, which patrolled waters off Darwin, Timor New Guinea and Singapore between 1941 and 1945.
“He was always spinning yarns about his war service,” local historian Glen Turnbull said.
Mr Turnbull knew Mr De Coite for just over 10 years, ‘not as long as most’.
“But in that time he was fantastic,” he said.
Mr De Coite was a sporting icon in the district, heavily involved with cricket, football and cycling.
He was a life member and patron of the Ferntree Gully District Cricket Association (FTGDCA), having founded the organisation in 1947.
The association lauded him as ‘a sporting icon in the FTG area’ and ‘an absolute gentleman’.
“His name will live on within the FTGDCA forever,” a tribute from the club read.
The FTGDCA second grade shield is named The De Coite Shield in his honour.
He was a life member, committee manager, sponsor and former president of the Ferntree Gully Football Club, where he played more than 350 matches including more than 10 premierships until 1989.
“Your legacy is embedded in the foundations of our great club,” a club tribute read.
He was a ‘leader, player, voice of experience and mate to every member for the last 70 years’ and ‘played everything with a straight bat made of honesty, loyalty, integrity and a big blue and white heart’.
He was awarded an Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to cricket in 2000, an award introduced by the Federal Government in 1999 to recognise Australian sporting achievements.
“Despite playing his football hard and tough occasionally resulting in injuries to opposition players, Bob was a genuine gentleman,” Mr Turnbull said.
Two years after his birth in Ringwood on 2 September 1922, Mr De Coite and his parents moved to Ferntree Gully where his father bought a local blacksmith shop.
After returning from their World War II service he and his brother John worked in the store and eventually took over the business.
Today, De Coite R & J Blacksmiths is run by Mr De Coite’s children.
Although now located on a different site to the original store, the blacksmiths is the second longest continuously operating business in Ferntree Gully.
Mr De Coite is survived by three children and several grandchildren.
His funeral was held in Wantirna yesterday (Monday).
He was due to be laid to rest in Macclesfield Cemetery today (Tuesday).
For full Anzac Day reports see pages 8 and 9.
