A very, very sad day indeed when I found out John had finally gone.
He was a tremendous worker for bowling, hard but fair, and always got the job done in a professional and dignified manner.
He gave a lot more to the sport than a lot of people realised from the local league level right the way through to National level.
John aside from bowling was also a mad-keen Magpie fan, both Collingwood and the Glenorchy Magpies in the TFL and later SFL, was a member, supporter and at times a sponsor of New Town-Glenorchy for over 60 years.
Knew John a long, long time. Bowled next to John the night I first bowled in the famous Sponsors League at Moonah when it was the biggest and best league in the state when I was just turned 14 and extremely toey, always had a calm word or two to keep me focussed.
Was standing with me in the pouring rain on the very sad day when the black & gold made their last appearance in the TFL after an association with top level state football that had stretched in one way or another back to 1908.
I remember clambering up the outside of the scoreboard and nicking the giant Hobart Tigers sign and quickly sticking it in the boot of John's big, grey Falcon only for us to get pulled up by the officials of the club who's ground it was demanding the sign back
Also have many memories of John putting in tremendous numbers of hours helping us fix up Strahan Street, which hadn't been painted inside or out since the start of WWII, spent many, many long hot summer days up the side of a scaffold working with John.
All great memories.
Vale John - Rest in peace
Matt Cramond
