Rex lived life to the fullest
Dedication to community
A HUMBLE man who was dedicated to his community, Rex Baguley not only gave greatly to his hometown - he also served his country as a soldier in World War II.
Mr Baguley died on Saturday, aged 94, but will remembered for his involvement in Olympic baton relays, his hockey talent, five decades of service at the Warwick Daily News and the mark he left on various community groups during his lifetime spent in Warwick.
Mr Baguley attended Warwick Central State School and then Warwick State High before becoming a messenger at the Daily News at age 14.
He began a six-year hand compositor’s apprenticeship at 17, but a year later, in 1942, he joined into the Australian Army.
He served with the 7th Battalion in World War II and saw action on the Numa Numa trail on Bougainville Island.
When hostilities finished, Mr Baguley was part of a battalion that supervised more than 28,000 surrendered Japanese soldiers before their repatriation home.
He returned to Australia in October 1946, just over a year after the war finished.
Long-time friend Ron Bryant said he had known Mr Baguley since his own childhood.
While Mr Baguley may have been a hard taskmaster at work, Mr Bryant said the pair became great friends and would take trips together to the Gold Coast with their wives, celebrate anniversaries and ring in every New Year.
Mr Baguley’s contributions extended further than his own family and workplace, he was patron of the Warwick Hockey Association, a Freemason for more than six decades and alongside Betty managed the official rain gauge for Warwick on their Dragon St property for 27 years.
He received an Award of Merit from the Queensland Hockey Association and was the only runner from Warwick in the torch relay for the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.
Mr Baguley followed this up with a stint in the torch relay for the 2000 Sydney Olympics and baton relay for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Friend John Skinner said he was very highly respected.
“Not only was he a very nice person, very easy to talk with and get along with, but he was so well respected within the community for what he’d done in the community,” he said.
“We had such a quiet, gentle man who had all this great history but he never boasted about it.”
Mr Baguley will be farewelled at a private service.