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I owe my dad a huge debt of gratitude. He meant<br />
so much to me and so I thought I would share<br />
some of what I said about him at our memorial<br />
at the beginning of this year following his<br />
passing on 28 December 2022. I love you dad.<br />
Above all things, what he taught all of our<br />
family was love. For family and friends, to<br />
feel and show unconditional love for them, to<br />
openly show affection. And speaking of love, I<br />
just have to say how mum cared for dad, not<br />
just throughout his whole life but over the last<br />
12 months, is nothing short of amazing. I am in<br />
awe of mum.<br />
In regards to music, dad shared with us his<br />
love of music which now lives on through me<br />
and our family from James Brown “makes me<br />
get down” to Gordon Lightfoot, Little Richard,<br />
Elvis, Billy Joel, the Doobie Brothers, Bob<br />
Segar, John Fogarty – everything from Motown<br />
to Rock’n’Roll to Country & Western and<br />
everything in between. Dad frequently called<br />
me over and said, “Have you heard this?”<br />
Indeed, Mikaela our eldest, often asks where<br />
she got her musical talent from as she had<br />
already concluded that neither her mum nor<br />
dad could hold a note or play an instrument<br />
with any kind of finesse, although I do disagree<br />
as I play a mean recorder after a few beers.<br />
Anyhow, perhaps dad could be credited with<br />
giving Mikaela her rhythm.<br />
For the ocean, dad instilled in Mike and me<br />
a respect and love for the surf. He always<br />
encouraged us to face our fears and tackle<br />
them head on. So many good times we shared<br />
out in huge seas daring each other to ride<br />
THAT one.<br />
For the officials, yep, Dad also taught us about<br />
his unconditional love for hating refs, umpires<br />
and sports selectors of all descriptions,<br />
particularly those that umpired Collingwood<br />
games and refereed State of Origin matches.<br />
Most importantly, Dad always told us we could<br />
never really imagine how much he loved our<br />
family and all the kids. To that I can simply<br />
reply by saying that I never think he could really<br />
comprehend how much we loved him, despite<br />
the fact he drove us up the wall at times.<br />
Dad, you have left a huge void in our lives,<br />
which is understandable because he stood<br />
6’4” – how I wish he gave me that height.<br />
We love you dad and are going to miss you like<br />
you would not believe.<br />
RIP Ken Swan, my dad.<br />
11 August 1941 – 28 December 2022<br />
Queensland footballer<br />
State and National surf<br />
lifesaving surfboard champion<br />
Captain Coach of the Queensland<br />
Men’s Water Polo team<br />
part of the Commonwealth<br />
Games Squad<br />
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