My father really did not talk of his childhood and as my parents migrated out from the UK, I never had any understanding of what it was like to have grandparents, uncles or aunties Our father told us that he was an only son of an only son. This was correct; however he had two half sisters. His parents separated when Dad was around 10 years old. I have since traced his family tree which he provided a lot of input. Dad was brought up in a privilege life. Servants etc. His father married 4 times My memories of Dad are a hard working person. He was a reserved person who loved his own company. Saying this, he was the local postman and very community minded. He got involved in the Blue Mountains Stamp Club, founded the Blackheath Teenage Club. Was involved in Blue Mountains Historical Society, the Mount Victoria Historical Society and actively involved in the Rhododendron Festival for many years My childhood memory of Dad was a loving father who always provided and ensured that we always had great birthdays and memorable Christmas Dad was a strong man, well read who loved research. An interest I have inherited. Dad had two loves of his life. my mother Betty Baumgarten (Rowse-Williams) .They divorced on 7th September 1982 and Gwen Silvey who pre-deceased Dad in June 2004. Whilst Dad and I had a loving father /son relationship, we became very close in the latter part of his life sharing many stories. He asked that I be his confidant in his battle with his cancer. So much information to digest and many decisions to be made. He realised that as the cancer took hold he would need another person to walk with him on the last journey I considered this an honour “many a laugh, many a tear “. Never once did Dad complain about his illness Dad spent the last 10 years of his life at Donald Coburn Lodge, Buckland Retirement Home Springwood. Previous to this he lived in Blackheath He was an inspiration and a rock and the legacy he left is reflected in his grandchildren My wish is that the respect, love and companionship that my father and I shared is carried into the next generation with my own children

REGINALD ERNEST BAUMGARTEN 18 November 1921 – 4 February 2010 Funeral Service 10 February 2010 Reg is survived by his children and their partners: Michael and Lynne, Francesca and Liam, David and Karen and Sandra and Tony; he was also a loving granddad to 11 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren There is much to celebrate about Reg’s life: to live a good and fulfilling life for 88 years is something to be thankful for, and his achievements are many. Reg was born in London to Reinhold Hans Baumgarten and Alice Coleman on 18th November 1921. He attended Primary and Secondary schools in London before going to business college. He then worked with his father learning, in Reg’s own words, “about concrete manufacture in all forms of pre-cast In 1940, at the age of 19, he volunteered for the Royal Air Force. He was eventually called up in October 1941 where he worked as a radar operator until he was demobbed in 1946 Reg had a passion to be a farmer, so he studied agriculture and worked on a farm in Cornwall. In his own words again, he spent “1946 to 1955 learning about and trying to be a farmer”. It was while he was recovering from a motor bike accident in a hospital in Cornwall that he met Betty Rowse, and they were married in Truro on 7th August 1948 In 1951, and now with two children, Michael and Francesca, Reg and Betty emigrated to Australia where they eventually settled on a farm at Mt. Irvine. David was born in 1954 and Sandra was to follow in 1960 In the meantime, however, Reg had found farming at Mt. Irvine to be quite different to farming in England, and in 1956 they moved to Mt. Victoria where he worked as a jackhammer operator on the electrification of the railway line from Mt. Victoria to Lithgow. In 1957 he joined the Postmasters General Department as a signals and telegraph linesman and then in 1958 moved to Blackheath where he became a postman until his retirement in 1981. He said that during the period, from 1958 to 1961, and I quote, “I did many part time jobs – gardener, you name it – I did it for a crust”. It was in Blackheath that he put down his roots, and became a loved and respected member of the community not only by his job as postmen, but by his involvement in so many community activities: As Michael and Francesca approached their teenage years, he noticed there was nothing much for them to do in the Mountains, so he formed the Blackheath Teenage Club. His interest in stamp collecting and postcards led him to be involved in the formation of the Blue Mountains Stamp Club of which he became a Life Member. He was involved with the Mt. Victoria Historical Society; his love of plants and the environment saw his involvement with the Rhododendron Festival and the Horticultural Society as well as becoming an avid bushwalker. He was a reserved man, and happy to be part of a team, and although he liked to step back from the limelight, he was a quiet achiever. Reg had an abiding thirst for knowledge. He was very intelligent, and read widely: He liked to be informed! Although he was an atheist, he knew the Bible backwards. He was a great researcher – he researched stamps; he read books on the environment; astronomy – he was the only person I’ve heard of who has actually read, and finished Stephen Hawking’s “Brief History of Time”! He was a forward thinker with an interest in the future that made him intrigued with where we were going Reg was, in the true sense of the word, a gentleman in his manners and his dress. He installed a strict set of moral values in his children and grandchildren and was a positive influence over the generations. He was a true Patriarch. Reg moved to Buckland Retirement Homes in Springwood on 11th march 2000 and his legacy will live on at Buckland, as his lifelong interest in jigsaw puzzles has led to its walls being decorated with all those he completed in the time he was there. Reg and Betty had separated in July 1980 and after their divorce, he eventually found companionship with Gwen Silvey who also moved to Buckland and who pre-deceased Reg in June 2004. A poem that Reg wrote, and which beautifully expresses his philosophy.<I will return to nature where I came from "I will be part of the trees,the birds, the animals,and the fish – that is my reincarnation. I have had a rich and full life and have no regrets. I will live on in your memories of me and through my Grandchildren " R.E Baumgarten