Les Drake 2014

Les (dad) was born on the 01/06/1947 in Gyor Hungary. In late 1956 both Les's mum and dad, Les and 2 sisters Louise and Eva immigrated to Australia. They settled in a house in Arcadia Crescent Berowra N.S.W. They then lived in Sydenham Rd Marrackville. The last place Les lived with his parents and two sisters before he got married was at Dulwich Hill. Les went to primary school in Bankstown. Then Les went to Asquith Boys High School. As regards to Les's tertiary education, he went to Ultimo Tech to do a course which was Diploma of Medical Technology. After completing thiscourse, Les was able to work in a pathology to do a lot of different types of tests e.g.(bloodtests). Well you could almost say he was a daylight vampire. Both Les and Allyson (mum) where enrolled in the same course.On the 20/07/1966, after finishing the days lessons, They both got on the same bus to go home. Les got on first and then Allyson. Allyson approached Les and said hello because they where in the same course and they ended up dating. Around May 1969 Les placed Allyson's engagement ring in a packet of Smith's crisps and hoped that Allyson would find the ring and say yes to marriage because he had too many nerves to get down on one knee to ask Allyson to marry him. Yes Allyson found the ring and said yes. They then had their engagement party on Allyson's 21st birthday party. The wedding took place on the 7th of February 1970.

After getting married , they lived at Dulwich Hill. Their first child born was Lara in February 1972 at Bankstown Hospital. The three of them lived there for a short period of time. Then in February 1974, Allyson, Les and Lara moved into the first house that they owned which was at Lord Street Narellan. January 1975 is when there second child, a son named Paul was born at Camden Hospital. Les and Allyson 's last child Rebecca was born July 1977 at Penang Medical Centre in Penang Malaysia. Allyson then gave Les strict instructions to go and register Rebecca's birth and certificate of Australian citizenship within 24 hours, or he would be in a lot of trouble and he did. On the 6th of March 1999 Allyson and Les's first child Lara lost her own battle with cancer. Even with a heavy heart, Les supported the rest of his family the best way he could.

At the start of Les's working life, there was a whole lot of different types of jobs. From picking oranges, cutting fabric and driving trucks. Then when Les was qualified, he then worked at a few different labs before joining the RAAF on 25/08/1975. Les performed all aspects of lab work. He even went on Medivacs to rescue sick people. One of the people that Les help rescue was Jim Russell who did (The Potts) comic strip in the Herald newspaper. One of Les's interests while based at Butterworth Malaysia was to spend time as radio announcer for the RAAF radio. Les stayed inthe RAAFfor21years.AtonestageinLes'scareerintheRAAF,hewastheofficer in charge when it came to liaise with local emergency services when there was floods, bush fires and other natural disasters. Les did this roll with a lot of passion as once again it meant that Les got to help people in need. After leaving the RAAF, Les worked in other labs and different organisation in managementrolls.There was alsoother rolls Leshadperformed.There wasdriving buses.Just before Les got sick, he drove wedding cars and worked at a lab for a vet practice.

When it came to Les needing to have asleep , he could sleep where ever he wanted to. One time while Les was away on an RAAF exercise, apparently Les slept standing up.

Family and friendship meant the world to Les. If someone needed help, Les would do everything in his power to help who ever needed help. He also believed that making people happy was of great importance to him. So the jokes and practical jokes never ended. For instance , Les stapled sardines to the back of the drawers in the desk of his officer in charges up in Malaysia. Then after just about everything got replaced, the officer in charge found out about the sardines and worked out that Les was the instigator and instead of Les getting into trouble pay back happened. It was a really sunny day when Les got ordered to got to the C.O.'S office. Les thought he was in a lot of trouble . So that Les could see into the office to see if there was anyone in there , he put his hand up to cover his eyes from the bright sun. Then not only the C.O. came out to see Les standing there. Everyone else came out and the C.O. said to everyone that was there (Looks like Les is saluting the glass in the door) . That is when Les realised that the C.O. got payback on him and everyone had a big laugh about that.

Les really enjoyed taking his family away on holidays. It did not matter where the family got to go, as long as they got to go away on holidays. Just like after Allyson and les's children had grown up and moved out of home , both Allyson and Les would choose a place and go. From an over night stay to a 5 week overseas holiday.

Les not only enjoyed teaching Allyson to drive a car, he also taught all of his children how to drive a car. Even when Les and Allyson owned a boat, Les taught both Allyson and Paul how to drive and handle a boat so if anything would happen to him then they would be able to get the boat back to safety to get help. Some of the things that Les enjoyed was reading books, horses, fixing cars of different ages, fishing, golf, riding motorbikes even after he had a serious bike accident in Malaysia, making items out of wood (using a wood lathe), Buying Allyson flowers all of the time, watching movies that he liked.

Finally Les also adored and loved all of his 8 grandchildren and would always tried to go to all their sporting dancing and special school events.

Uncle Les:

As a boy I enjoyed going to see my uncles and aunts, Uncle Les included.

Christmases and holidays were a great time to spend together with family, and as a boy it was all about the presents and lollies, swimming in the pool or playing in the yard with cousins, getting sunburned and feeling sick after 1 too many jelly babies.

As I grew into my late teens, I was given the chance to finish restoring a Morris Minor 1000 that we bought from Uncle Les. Realising that this was too big a task for me, I decided to sell the car but not until after I had done enough research on the car to work out how to lower the front end to make it look “cooler”.

After putting my first registered car on its roof and surviving that, soon after, Uncle Les offered me the chance to buy his beautiful Aqua green with white roof 179 CU EH Holden sedan. It had some of Uncle Les’ own modifications which made it pretty special and to this day I wish I still had it in the garage. Being a first year apprentice I couldn’t afford the new head it required so it had to go too.

After getting married and moving interstate for these last 8 years, it has been very hard to see extended family and the time together is rushed. I regret not being able to make the time to be able to come and see Uncle Les in this last year, outside of Christmas. However the last time I got to spend with him was a great time and I think I enjoyed my time with him more than I ever have before because I, as I have gotten older, have realized that he was a great man. A great man who loved his family dearly and loved them with actions which speak louder than words. He showed the young men in our family how to act like men -to love their wives, put others first and respect others.

Sometimes also as men we are not very good at showing emotion or telling those around us how we feel. I know inside though that he cared for me, not just because I was his nephew, but because he had a big enough heart to do so. He will always be someone I will admire and look up to.

I shed a tear typing this, Uncle Les I love you, I’ll miss you and hopefully I’ll see you again someday.

Love, your Nephew

David

Les was born on the 01/06/1947 in Gyor Hungary. In late 1956 Les, his parents and 2 sisters Louise and Eva immigrated to Australia. In the 60s, they lived in Arcadia Crescent, Berowra. Les went to primary school in Bankstown then and on to Asquith Boys High School as one of the Pioneers. He was a prefect from 1962 through to the Leaving Certificate in 1964. Les completed his tertiary education at Ultimo Tech, completing a Diploma of Medical Technology which saw him work in pathology, performing a range of different types of tests including blood tests. Well you could almost say he was a daylight vampire which subsequently earned him the nickname, in the Air Force, of Dracula.

Les and his future wife, Allyson were enrolled in the same course. In July1966, after lessons, they both got on the same bus to go home and Allyson approached Les and said hello because they were in the same course. They ended up dating and in May 1969 Les, ever the Romeo, placed an engagement ring in a packet of Smith's crisps in the hope that Allyson would find it and say ‘yes’. He was too nervous to get down on one knee to ask for her hand. Allyson found the ring, said yes and they celebrated their engagement on Allyson's 21st birthday party. They married in February 1970 and moved to Dulwich Hill.

They went on to have three children, Lara, Paul and Rebecca. Tragically, their firstborn Lara, lost her own battle with cancer in 1999. Even with a heavy heart, Les supported the rest of his family the best way he could. Les initially worked in wide range of jobs - from picking oranges to cutting fabric and driving trucks. After gaining his qualifications, he worked at a few different labs before joining the RAAF in August 1975. Les performed all aspects of lab work and even went on Medivacs to rescue sick people. One of the people that Les helped rescue was Jim Russell who did The Potts comic strip for the SMH.

One of Les' interests while based at Butterworth Malaysia was to spend time as a radio announcer for the RAAF radio. He stayed in the RAAF for 21 years during which at one stage, he was the officer in charge of liaising with local emergency services in cases of floods, bush fires and other natural disasters. Les did this role with a lot of passion as once again it meant that he got to help people in need.

After leaving the RAAF, Les worked in other labs and different organisations in management roles and subsequently performed a range of other roles including driving buses, wedding cars and lab work for a vet practice. Apparently, when it came to needing a sleep, Les could sleep where ever he wanted to. One time while away on an RAAF exercise, he was actually found sleeping standing up.

Family and friends meant the world to Les. If someone needed help, Les would do everything in his power to help who ever needed it. He also believed that making people happy was of great importance to him, so the jokes and practical jokes never ended. This nearly backfired on him after he stapled sardines to the back of the drawers in the desk of his officer in charge up in Malaysia. Luckily for Les, the CO chose payback, rather than discipline, ensuring that Les’ discomfort was there for all to see and laugh at! Les enjoyed reading books, horses, fixing cars of different ages, fishing, golf, riding motorbikes (even after he had a serious bike accident in Malaysia), making items out of wood (using a wood lathe), buying Allyson flowers all of the time and watching movies that he liked. Les adored and loved all of his 8 grandchildren and always tried to go to all their sporting, dancing and special school events.

Uncle Les: As a boy I enjoyed going to see my uncles and aunts, Uncle Les included. Christmases and holidays were a great time to spend together with family, and as a boy it was all about the presents and lollies, swimming in the pool or playing in the yard with cousins, getting sunburned and feeling sick after 1 too many jelly babies. As I grew into my late teens, I was given the chance to finish restoring a Morris Minor 1000 that we bought from Uncle Les.

Realising that this was too big a task for me, I decided to sell the car but not until after I had done enough research on the car to work out how to lower the front end to make it look “cooler”. After putting my first registered car on its roof and surviving that, soon after, Uncle Les offered me the chance to buy his beautiful Aqua green with white roof 179 CU EH Holden sedan. It had some of Uncle Les’ own modifications which made it pretty special and to this day I wish I still had it in the garage. Being a first year apprentice I couldn’t afford the new head it required so it had to go too.

After getting married and moving interstate for these last 8 years, it has been very hard to see extended family and the time together is rushed. I regret not being able to make the time to be able to come and see Uncle Les in this last year, outside of Christmas. However the last time I got to spend with him was a great time and I think I enjoyed my time with him more than I ever have before because I, as I have gotten older, have realized that he was a great man. A great man who loved his family dearly and loved them with actions which speak louder than words. He showed the young men in our family how to act like men -to love their wives, put others first and respect others. Sometimes also as men we are not very good at showing emotion or telling those around us how we feel. I know inside though that he cared for me, not just because I was his nephew, but because he had a big enough heart to do so. He will always be someone I will admire and look up to. I shed a tear typing this, Uncle Les I love you, I’ll miss you and hopefully I’ll see you again someday.

Love, your Nephew

David

Leslie Francis Drake 1st June 1947 to 5th November 2014 Les Les’ family would like to thank you for your caring Thanks to T.J. Andrews and Paster Elvie Cave Please join us at North Richmond Panthers Club 33 Beaumont Ave North Richmond I just called to say I love you Welcome: Prayer: Pastor Les’ Prayer: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Footprints: Tributes: Photo tribute: Reading: Ecclesiasties Ch3 V1 - 8 Reflection of Paul and Dave given by Pastor Elvie Pray: The Lords Prayer Farewell: Psalm 23 Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints in our hearts, and we are never the same.

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