Pedigree

Birth, Death, Marriage

Mary Veronica Budd married Leon Roy 'Whiskey' Williams, son of Cecil Roy Williams and Annie Veronica O'Connell, on 11 April 1964 in Mooroopna, Victoria.1 

Family

Leon Roy 'Whiskey' Williams b. 30 Aug 1939, d. 10 Apr 2017
Children
ChartsLarsen, Laust, descendant chart
Milovitch, Thomas, descendant chart
O'Connell, Michael, descendant chart
Williams, John, descendant chart

Story

Lorraine And Val At Mooroopna Weddings
Lorraine and Val were sometimes called on to be part of weddings at St Mary's.2,3
 
Back to Mooroopna
The 'Back to Mooroopna' celebrations were a great opportunity for ex-Mooroopna people to catch up with those who stayed, and the Easter 1963 'Back to' was very popular with the O'Connell, Williams and related families.
 
It was an occasion for young and old. Always up for a bit of fun, Annie dressed up for the occasion, donning the most 'youthful' clothing she could find and borrowing her grandson's school bag.

The O'Connells also caught up with the Foleys, family friends from over fifty years earlier.
 
Marriage and Family
Leon and Mary were married in St Mary's church, Mooroopna in 1964.1
 
They have three sons.
 
This photo of Leon and Mary's extended family was taken at Leon's 70th birthday celebration at Trawool in 2009.
 
Leon's OAM and Community Dinner 
On Australia Day 2014, Leon was awarded a Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division. The citation reads:
Mr Leon Roy WILLIAMS AFSM, 89 McLennan Street, Mooroopna Vic 3629
For service to the community of Shepparton.

Chairman, Mooroopna Recreation Reserve, for 21 years; Treasurer, for 8 years; Member, Management Committee, since 1967.
Area Manager, Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal, for many years since 1976.
Councillor, St Mary's Primary School, for 16 years.
Board Member, Mooroopna Water and Sewerage Authority, for 8 years.
Member, Mooroopna Apex Club, for 10 years.
Member, Sir Ian McLennan Sports Centre Board, since 1980; Chairman, since 1990.

President, Mooroopna Junior Football Club, for 10 years.
Chairman, Mooroopna Memorial Swimming Pool, for 8 years; Member, for 20 years.
Treasurer, Shepparton Junior Football League, for 12 years; Delegate, for 15 years; Life Member.
Delegate, Goulburn Murray Football District Board, for 6 years.
Member, Mooroopna Football Club Board, 1978-1990.

Chairman, Country Fire Authority VUFBA State Championships, 2012; Secretary, 1988, 1992, 1998 and 2005.
Secretary, Mooroopna Urban Fire Brigade, since 1967; Member, since 1955; Life Member.
Member, Country Fire Authority District 22, for 34 years; Chairman, for 14 years.

Awards/recognition include:
Australian Fire Service Medal, 2007.
Citizen of the Year, Rodney Shire Council, 1993.
Grandstand named in his honour, Mooroopna Recreation Reserve, 1984.4

 
Leon rated his OAM just behind having the stand on the oval named after him and his Australian Fire Service Medal. Leon was passionate about Mooroopna, yet his OAM was for 'Service to the Community of Shepparton'. He tried to get the wording changed to 'Mooroopna' including trying to clarify it to the Governor of Victoria at the ceremony.5
 
In May 2014, a Community Dinner was held in his honour at the Sir Ian McLennan Centre in Mooroopna.6
 
Leon was coordinator of the Fire Brigade’s Royal Children’s Hospital Appeal from the mid-1970s. In an article in the Shepparton News in 2014 on the occasion of his 40th year as appeal co-ordinator, Leon said the money collected fluctuated over the decades. In 1974 the Mooroopna effort raised $1150 and last year (2013) raised almost $32,000. The total raised since 1974 was in excess of $725,000.5,7
 
The Royal Children's Hospital gave this supporting notice to Leon's death notice:
The Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal deeply regrets the passing of volunteer Leon Williams. Leon will be remembered as one of our most active and passionate fundraisers in Mooroopna and district. We extend our deepest sympathy to Mary and family.8

 
Tributes flowed at the dinner.9
 
Lead speaker John Gray described Mr Williams as a home-grown, parochial country-town citizen.
'He is a get-up-and-go, hands-on, make-it-happen, selfless operator who cares little for idle rhetoric and certainly has scant regard for red tape,' Mr Gray told the audience.

...

Mr Williams said he had no plans of retiring from his active community life.

When he spoke to The News yesterday, he was busy preparing an old Ardmona closing machine for display at Mooroopna Historical Society.

'Right now T'm pretty flat out, especially at the historical society fixing things and making things,' he said.

'But I'll keep going with everything - it just might be at a slower rate.'
 

Citations

  1. [S196] Mary Williams, personal communication, 20 April 2014.
  2. [S201] 'Many Easter weddings celebrated: Sisters wed at Mooroopna', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 11 April 1947, p. 9, viewed 19 May 2023, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/173894663
  3. [S201] 'Ardmona bride', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 24 June 1947, p. 9, viewed 19 May 2023, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/173896238
  4. [S2] 'Australia Day 2014 Honours Lists: Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division', Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, online, viewed 14 April 2018, https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/ad/…
  5. [S261] Leon Williams, Eulogy, document, 18 April 2017.
  6. [S126] Peter Phillips, personal knowledge or recollection.
  7. [S18] Griepink, Estelle, 'Appeal service', Shepparton News, 1877-, newspaper, Roy McPherson, 18 April 2014, p. 3, Story of Leon's community service work, particularly his 40 years of co-ordinating the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday appeal in Mooroopna.
  8. [S271] 'Tributes: Williams, Leon Roy (OAM & AFSM)', Herald Sun, 1990-, newspaper, Herald & Weekly Times, 13 April 2017, viewed 12 April 2018, http://tributes.heraldsun.com.au/notice/380752056/view
  9. [S18] Griepink, Estelle, 'Improving town Leon's life', Shepparton News, 1877-, newspaper, Roy McPherson, (date uncertain) 2014.