Brian John Howell, better known as 'Bill', was born on April 22, 1932.

The youngest and smallest sibling of 10 - six boys and four girls - to Ab and Alsie Hoswell.

He left school at the age of 15 and started to work for his mother.

Bill would milk the cows and get the calves in at night, before doing the milk run with his old horse 'Stumpy'

At the age of 16, Bill started wheat carting with John Rawsthorne.

Noel Langford and Bill would armstrong the bags of wheat up on to John on the truck.

They would take the bags to 'the silo' in Eugowra, get on the back of the truck and tip them off.

In the words of Bill, "it was pretty hard work being 9 stone 9 wringing wet".

After harvest time, Bill's brother Hilton gave him a job driving a tractor at "Island View" until he was aged 17, when Jack Mallick gave him a full time job on the farm.

Bill stayed with Hilton and his wife Coleen until he started his shearing career for over 30 yeras.

He was a character around the shearing sheds, often playing tricks on his work mates, but most importantly a hard and dedicated worker.

There would not be a local shearing shed that Bill didn't work in during his career.

He met his lifelong partner Shirley at the dances in the Parkes hall at the age of 18.

Shirley said that the boys would often camp at the Billabong Creek to 'catch' the girls as they left from church.

They were married in 1953 and welcomed their firstborn, Julie, in 1954.

Brian came shortly after in 1956, before jeff in 1958. The family was completed when Ian was born in 1962.

In 1985, Bill and Shirley built their forever home at "Clifton" where they watched their family grow, with many grandchildren and great grandchildren arriving in the latter years.

After retirement from the shearing sheds, Bill joined Shirley who had been operating the bus run in Eugowra until he was aged 70.

This was when he focussed his attention on his beloved "Clifton".

Clifton quickly became a place for many, with "happy hour" the best time to visit.

He loved life on the farm, taking his four wheeler to check on the sheep and horses, with his dog Ruby in tow.

It was well known that Bill was devoted to horses, harness racing, Holden cars and rugby league - particularly the St George Illawarra Dragons.

He loved breaking and breeding ponies, and would often ride them to shows in Canowindra, Cudal, Parkes and Eugowra.

Bill said, "there were no horse floats around back then".

He purchased his first pacer from Red Shadow Stud in Canowindra, which started a lifelong interest of breeding and racing.

A dedicated life member, patron and valued committee member of Eugowra Harness Racing Club, Bill loved watching the races and travelling across NSW to follow his pacers.

During the 1960s to 1980s, Bill was heavily involved with the Eugowra rugby league club. He frequently attended games, would provide medical massages to players, and picked up the guernseys for cleaning.

Bill touched many hearts as a true gentleman, and he will be dearly missed.

The family would like to thank Dr Nick O'Ryan and his staff, the nurses at Canowindra Hospital, for their care of Bill, and family and friends for their thoughtful visits and messages at this time.

His final words to Shirley were, "if we had our time again, would you still choose me?" to which she responded, "yes".

As Bill would say, "thanks for coming, it's nice to meet nice people".

Bill's funeral service was at St John the Baptist Catholic Church, Eugowra on December 20, 2024, and the following tribute read by Therese Welsh.