A great mate, a great bloke
PAUL GERARD “STEVO” STEVENSON
PAUL Gerard “Stevo” Stevenson has been remembered as a hard worker, a great mate and someone who always liked a story and a laugh.
His greatest joy came from his involvement with Townsville’s Brothers Rugby League Club, of which he was a life member, but he also had a passion for horse racing.
Paul was born in Rockhampton on June 29, 1962, the fourth child to Mervyn and Bridie.
The family relocated to Charters Towers, where Paul went to school at St Columba’s Primary School, later attending Mount Carmel College.
Paul was not big on school — saying he went to school to see his mates and eat his lunch.
In 1976 the Stevensons relocated to Townsville and Paul completed Years 10, 11 and 12 at Ignatius Park College.
He was a member of school’s First XIII rugby league team and captained the side in Year 12.
After school Paul started an apprenticeship as a refrigeration mechanic at Blisset and Farrell, completing his trade at AE Smith and later working for Carrier and subcontracting to Bob Mccann.
Around this time he met Donna Lee Newman and they were married in 1984.
They built their first home at
Violet Crescent, Rasmussen.
Paul soon realised it was easier to be inside an airconditioned office and sell airconditioning than it was to be outside installing them, becoming a sales rep with Bradway in 1988, before establishing his own business, Northern Air Conditioning.
The Northern Air Conditioning office and warehouse — “The Shed” as Paul called it — became a drop in point for nearly every fridgie in town. Coffee was available and the fridge was always stocked with Whitbreads cordial or XXXX Gold.
Besides Paul’s love for his mates and family, his greatest joy came from his involvement with Brothers Rugby League Club.
He had many roles during his 40year association with the club, including team manager, sponsor and board member. He was also involved with player signings.
After Donna passed, Paul along with Brothers and the Charters Towers Miners established “The Donna Stevenson Memorial Shield”. The memorial game has been played every year since 2004, with Brothers only losing the shield on one occasion.
In November 2018, the club recognised his contribution, naming him a life member.
Horse racing was also one of Paul’s great passions. He raced horses with trainers Glenn Betts, John Barr, Tom and Vicki Mciver and most recently with Alby and Julie Molino.
Paul and Donna enjoyed going out to the track, dressing up for the Amateur Ball and travelling North Queensland to attend race meetings.
Paul’s favourite weekend fell in late September when he would pack up the swag, travel over Herveys Range and turn right on the Lynd Highway towards his camp at the Ewan Races.
Many years and many working bees have transformed what was a simple camp with a shed, single shower with donkey hot water system and long drop into something Paul would call “the best camp at Ewan”.
Paul oversaw the addition of new camp bathrooms, complete with flushing toilets and four showers with instant hot water.
The extended Ewan crew surprised Paul a few years ago with the construction of a sky bar with views of the racetrack. The bar is aptly named “Stevo’s”.
Daughter Jennah said Paul was many things to many different people — a son, a brother, an uncle, a husband, a best friend and a great mate.
“Some of my fondest memories with dad have been spent just sitting back chatting around our camp at the Ewan Races, out on the back patio at Nineteenth Avenue or on the veranda at Calcium. We could talk for hours. The next day dad would always say: “Well, we didn’t solve any of the world problems but jeez we had a good night”.
Paul died on December 24, aged 57.