Dedicated family man remembered
July 21, 1948 – December 4, 2023
A football umpire of more than 1000 games and dedicated family man who was passionate about his job, Roger Roy Hastings died on December 4, aged 75.
Mr Hastings was born in Dimboola on July 21, 1948, to Joyce and Gordon Hastings. He was a brother to Rhonda. Mr Hastings attended school in Dimboola, and after completion of his education, followed in his father’s footsteps and went to work on the railways.
After leaving the railways, he later worked at the Wail Nursery, Flick Pest Control and then secured his dream job as a cooler technician with Coca-cola, often dropping everything to fix a cooler when it wasn’t working properly somewhere in western Victoria.
It was a huge area that he looked after, so a fair bit of travel was involved — but he never minded.
He loved his job and gave them dedicated and loyal service for 34 years, until ill health forced him to take early retirement at the age of 64. He was known as ‘The Coke Man’. Mr Hastings played football for one season when he was a teenager.
After breaking his nose, he decided that football was not for him and joined Wimmera Umpires Association when he was 20.
He was a central umpire for many years, later becoming a goal umpire, which he continued with right up to the 2023 season.
He was very proud to receive a certificate of recognition in 2021 for umpiring 1000 games.
He umpired 1057 games in total during his career. Umpiring was the real love of his life. He dedicated his life to the game and turned up to every appointment he was given, sometimes two on a weekend. He wasn’t so good at training, though.
Mr Hastings met his wife, Denise, when both were 17. They became engaged at 22 and married on September 12, 1970 — a marriage that lasted for more than 53 years.
Mr Hastings loved his animals, including his dog Leila and cat Mollie.
In the earlier years he was known to bring home any injured bird or animal he found on the side of the road and nurse them back to health.
At one stage he had many bird aviaries, which gave him immense pleasure.
Mr and Mrs Hastings were truly blessed on the arrival of daughters, Courtney and Tennille, to complete their family.
So many happy memories were made during the ensuing years, until they left home to pursue their own journeys.
After their daughters’ marriages, Mr and Mrs Hastings were five times blessed on the arrival of five gorgeous grandchildren — Remi and Raf, Arlie, Ollie and Etta.