Vale John Roser

William John Roser passed away on Sunday after being flown to Newcastle on Friday following complications with pneumonia aged 88 years.

He was a gentle and kind man who always had time for people.

His daughter Leslie Roser described him as a loving father and loving grandfather, with a passion for Scone’s past.

John Roser passed away on Sunday.

“He did a variety of things, he was a butcher, he was a milkman, he had a go at a bit of hairdressing, worked for Clary Fletcher and after he had an accident, he was on my push bike and was hit by a car and after that he began working at the Scone hospital as the gardener and he was there for 20 years; he said it was the best job he ever had in his life,” said Ms Roser.

“He loved the garden, he loved the people, he planted all of the roses up there and Richard Abbott still says the garden has never been the same since he left; the roses are still the all flourishing, he just loved that it was outdoors and he worked for Brian Collison and he was just a fantastic boss,” she said.

“There have people tell me that when they were new to town he went to welcome them and talked to them, he was certainly well respected in the community and he’d do anything he could for anybody,” she said.

“He used to grow chocoes and mother’s day flowers and ferry them all around Scone to the surgery and anyone else that wanted them.

“He was just a good man, a great father and a great grandfather and he will be missed by a lot of people.

“He was still very active he still did all of his own house work and he did quite a lot for himself, it has only been in the last six months he has had a decline.

“He loved his garden and he was a family man and he was a bit of a local historian he could tell you anything about Scone and what it was like years and years ago he had a memory like an elephant,” she said.

Leslie is a highly experienced nurse who spent most of her career specialising in paediatrics in Sydney and said the care her dad received at the Scott Memorial Hospital in Scone was commendable.

“The hospital in Scone was absolutely fabulous, I could not fault them or the doctors, they were not only fabulous to dad but they were also very good to me,” said Leslie Roser.

John was married to his wife Joan for 58 years and is survived by his children Leslie and Stephen and grandchildren John and Stephen.

John’s funeral will be held at 10am on Monday at St Luke’s Anglican Church, Scone.