Kind farmer remembered
RESPECTED Crows Nest grazier and business owner Peter Hemmings has been remembered as hardworking and kind-hearted man.
His mate Rick Zeller said Mr Hemmings was returning from rounding up cattle when he rolled his quad bike and tragically died, about 1pm on Wednesday.
“Peter was full of energy,”
Mr Zeller said.
“He went 100 miles an hour at everything he did.”
The pair formed a close friendship after they opened the Peadon Rural store about 12 years ago.
“The shop was needed here in Crows Nest,” Mr Zeller said.
“But you can’t do everything yourself, so we did it together.
“We also worked cattle together, and Peter knew a lot about cattle.”
Mr Zeller moved on to selling cattle while Mr Hemmings took over sole ownership of the business.
It put him in contact with hundreds of farmers in the area who held the Crows Nest businessman in high regard.
Mr Zeller said Peter would offer help to anyone who needed it, including donating pumping equipment and solar panels to farmers struggling in the recent drought.
“He worked from daylight to dark, and he helped out a lot of people during the dry,” Mr Zeller said.
Mr Hemmings was born in the English town of Biggleswade, west of Cambridge.
He migrated to Australia as a boy, and later returned to England to study on a scholarship. Wyreema producer Tom Missingham had been mates with Mr Hemmings for more than 30 years and said he had an in-depth knowledge of animal nutrition and husbandry.
“Peter was well-learned bloke who called a spade a spade,” he said.
“He was devoted to the smaller communities and people who lived in the district. “He was a genuine bloke.” Mr Hemming’s passing has affected many people in the Crows Nest district.
His partner, Donna Gray, said she was heartened by support she has received.
“Peter loved helping people, he was my rock and my soulmate,” she said.
“He was a very good father and grandfather.”
Workplace Health and Safety officers will investigate the rollover to determine if it was a workplace accident, while police prepare a report for the Queensland Coroner.
Peter Hemmings in survived by his six children, George, Petrece, Catherine, James, Scott and Andrew, and his 16 grandchildren.