Below are the texts of some heartfelt letters from Terry's old workmates, friends and relatives. They give some idea of how highly they regarded him. The first three were forwarded via Terry's old boss Ross McLeish.
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Ross, please pass this on to Terry and give him a big hug from me for being such a warm and generous human being:
Terry,
I remember the day when we first met at Optus. Your sense of fun, lack of pretension, and general good humour shone through. You were always a joy to be around, always taking the piss when it needed to be taken, and at all times demonstrating your detailed technical competence and abilities in a practical way.
I remember your ability to sustain late nights and early mornings, sometimes contiguously. I remember your teamwork and how you were always seeking to help others, without them necessarily noticing.
I remember your love of wood, and woodworking, and the joy you got from reducing a old telegraph pole to a toothpick with your lathe....or so it seemed to me.
I hope your love of music gave you great joy in your retirement years and that you keep pluckin’ and strummin’ as long as you can.
It is said that life is just a journey and that is why we are called the human race. Now it appears that you are going to beat your mates to the finish line.
Farewell Terry and thank you for being a warm and wonderful member of the race.
Rob Holloway
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Ross,
Can you please pass on my best thoughts to Terry.
It was great to have a chat to Terry the other day in Sydney, while we were waiting at the Airport. It brought back a lot of great memories and good fun we had working with Terry. He is a champion bloke and always very good at his job. But most of all he is a good friend, so I am so sorry to hear about his health issues.
Please let him know if there is anything I can do , then just call or let me know.
I hope that he is coping ok and not feeling too bad.
David McGovern
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Hi Terry,
Ross let me know you are doing it tough at the moment so am really hoping things get better.
I am not sure I have thanked you properly for being a great mate and mentor during and after my time at Optus. Maybe too much mentoring on red wine.
One of the reasons why Bridge Point has been successful is that we have based the business on our people and more importantly our values. These values of respect, mateship, excellence and being easy to get on are important to us. These are based on people we have all worked with as role models. Terry, these values are you.
Jenny, John and Eloise all enjoyed out trip to Bellingen. It was great to meet your family and friends.
Thank you Terry.
Rob Siganto
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Dear Debbie and your loved ones
I want you to know that you are much in our thoughts at present. It is very difficult to lose a person you love. It is so difficult to understand that things can develop so fast – we really have to enjoy life while we have it.
I also want you to know that you have very good friends in Denmark, and you and your loved ones are always welcome. Ole is so glad that he took the chance and also had the opportunity to have a little talk on the phone with Terry the week before Terry passed away. Ole clearly felt that Terry was very weak. The last thing we talked about was when Terry said that he was going to the hospital the day after we talked. He hoped that the doctors could find “some good tricks in their toolboxes”. If not, he would open a good bottle of whisky and take it from there.
Only the few days you were all in Denmark on the occasion of the wedding, it was very evident to us that Terry was a great guy. His spirits, his enjoyment of and enthusiasm for everything, his outstanding commitment, and last, but not least, all the things we felt that Terry would like to give to us all will be remembered by us.
We hope that you will find the strength to get through this very difficult time.
With love from all of us.
Anette and Ole (Nielsen)