VALE JOHN DE VEAU

 Our friend, John de Veau, passed away 25 Aug 2022 at the age of 96, having lived in the Armidale region most of his life.

John joined the shed in 2012 and was a regular attendee of our Thursday lunches, famous for his 'foghorn' announcement that lunch was served at 12.30 and that the payments box was in the “usual place”.

John was closely associated with agriculture, the arts, UNE, the Royal Agriculture Society, Rotary, local history - the list goes on….and he “taught the Poms how to shear”!

Over the course of the last decade, Men's Shed members have been captivated by stories about how he “saved the war” by caring for US soldiers in Sydney, his work on many local properties, the families who worked on them, and his entanglements with local medicos. John lived an enthralling life and we were fortunate to have been introduced to it.

John de Veau gave us a glimpse of life in Armidale over the past century. We will miss you, dear friend, what a pleasure it has been to know you.