Tribute By Clare

This humorous tribute to Terry was written Kathryns daughter Clare Abbotts (Terrys niece). Clare was also overseas at the time so this was delivered at the Wake by Keith

My brother and I were lucky enough to have spent time growing up with Uncle Terry around, as he and my family lived together on a property at Gleniffer for a number of years. These were our formative years, and while the other kids were out learning how to text-message, or seeing how many vowels they could remove from a word before it just turned into *smiley face*, my brother and I were being educated in history, arts, politics and philosophy, as Uncle Terry introduced us to the likes of Monty Python, Billy Connolly, and The Goon Show. On the little stone patio outside his studio, or down in the back-shed in amongst the woodwork machines and sawdust, Uncle Terry was always ready to share with us his quick-wit, wicked sense of humour, and to let us in on some of his simple life philosophies.

One piece of advice he gave me was “Live long enough to be a problem to your kids”. Well, Uncle Terry, you’ll be pleased to know you certainly managed that. And you didn’t just limit that to your children – thanks for extending that to include relatives, friends… in fact anyone who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The best examples would have to be the havoc wreaked by Uncle Terry at family get-togethers, especially weddings. They were the ideal place to achieve maximum hilarity and embarrassment for the least amount of effort. And just to clarify, the embarrassment factor was not for himself of course – that didn’t worry him in the slightest – but for everyone else involved because, at a family-do, it’s very difficult to claim anything other than blood relation to the people there. No matter how hard you try denying it, or how many times you say “I don’t know who that is. Never seen him before in my life”, when the man in the rainbow pants and Gandalf hat is wearing a name tag that reads ‘Uncle Terry’ and meeting and greeting the guests, it’s a bit hard to escape that one. And at weddings, well, the embarrassment factor always hit a high, as the in-laws finally came face to face with the gene pool they were marrying into.

We’ve always joked that this is why Terry’s daughter, Renee, decided against the whole church, big white dress, tying-the-knot scenario. So far, she’s been the only one who’s had the right idea. Just to give you an idea, here are just a few fond matrimonial memories Uncle Terry has given us.

One of the first wedding pranks Terry pulled was on his own dear brother’s big day. I’m sure Uncle Keith could tell this better than I, but this story has become a bit of a legend. The long and the short of it is that Uncle Terry stole Uncle Keith and Aunty Sandra’s wedding car, and bride and groom were left standing outside the reception hall watching their own car speed away, being waved and cheered on by all the unsuspecting guests. I remember being told this story many times, with the caveat of “and that’s why you should elope, Clare”.

A

nd you’d think Keith’s own daughter would have heeded this as a warning, but dear sweet Danielle, always thinking the best of people, went ahead and sent out invitations to the whole family. At this time, Uncle Terry and my family were living on a property out at Gleniffer, and I remember the nights spent over bottles of red wine planning how to make Danielle’s big day a “memorable” one. With Danielle’s wedding being in the Botanical Gardens, this lent an ‘outdoor’ theme to the plans and schemes. Uncle Terry’s first idea was to dress as a tramp in dirty old clothes and a tatty trenchcoat, brandishing a bottle in a brown paper bag and wander around through the guests before pretending to sleep on a park bench just behind the groom’s family. He then toyed with dressing up in a big koala bear suit, falling out a of tree like a ‘drop-bear’, and then walking up and down the aisle trying to collect donations in a big plastic bucket. But what he finally settled on was dressing as my mum, Danielle’s Aunty Kathryn. And let it never be said that Terry did things half-heartedly; his costume was complete with black wig, dress, scarf, lipstick, pantyhose and high heels (possibly from his own collection). And he must’ve looked very convincing because Aunty Sandra is said to have commented in all seriousness, when seeing Terry approaching at a distance, “That is one very unattractive woman” (which, to be fair, was one of the most flattering compliments Terry had received in a while – he was quite happy with that one). And as for Danielle… well, what could be better than having to introduce to your soon-to-be in-laws “Yes, and this is my Uncle Terry dressed as my Aunty Kathryn”.

A few years later, when my mum had a big fancy dress birthday party, it was nice to see that Terry had successfully passed on the cross-dressing gene to the next generation, when his son Dylan turned up to the party in a flouncy blonde wig, red stilettos and leather jumpsuit as Sandy from the musical Grease. Like father like son.

Now Keith’s son, Peter, being an intelligent young man, actually had his wedding overseas in the hope that the entire expanse of the Pacific Ocean could keep Uncle Terry at bay. But thanks to the internet, Terry managed to once again leave the bride’s family looking at each other with dismay and concern, wondering what their daughter had married into and if there was just a little too much chlorine in the Harvey gene pool.

There are so many other stories like these that we owe all to Uncle Terry and his wicked sense of humour. And, as usual, he’s got one up on us all and left before we can get our own back. Cheeky bugger.

I remember seeing an interview with Billy Connolly once, and when asked about his philosophy on life he replied “My life philosophy is simple. Never trust a man who, left alone in a room with a tea cosy, doesn’t try it on”. If the Gandalf hat, rainbow pants and Aunty Kathryn high heels are anything to go by, I think Terry had the same idea. He didn’t just try on the tea cosy – he wore it proudly for all to see. And I’m so glad that he did.

Thanks for the great memories Uncle Terry.