The former Miga Lake farmer and regular In My Paddock contributor died on September 15 at the age of 87 after a battle with dementia.

Bill is survived by his daughters Wendy Garton, Sally McClure and Jane Thomas, along with 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. His wife Judy died in 2001.

Ms Garton said her father had always been a wonderful and warm-hearted man.

“He had a heart of gold really. He really missed mum when she passed away, so he was always trying to keep active and social,” she said.

“He had a wonderful passion for following his granddaughters with their netball in recent years. They had many a story to tell at his funeral about the different things he got in trouble with.”

Bill was born on March 31, 1931. His father was a solider settler at Miga Lake and Bill also took up the career by running his own mixed farm in the region.

“He loved his Angus cattle; he was very proud of them and sold a lot of bulls throughout Victoria. We also had a little bit of cropping and Merino sheep,” she said.

She said her father’s life revolved around farming.

“Dad was only 14 when he left school and was always a farmer through-and-through,” she said.

“He loved the buzz of shearing time, so that was a real highlight for him, as was the pride and joy of selling the bulls. It was really hard for him when he stopped farming, that was his life.”

Besides from a life of the land, Bill was a committed community member in the Edenhope region and was involved in a number of local groups.

Bill was a councillor for the former Shire of Kowree, serving as mayor for a term.

“He loved representing the people and doing something to help them; anyone who was underprivileged or on their own, he sought them out,” she said.

“Dad was also on the Neighbourhood Watch Committee and was an Anglican church person. He also dabbled in the local Lions and Probus clubs.”

Ms Garton said her father loved contributing to the Mail-Times’ In My Paddock column.

“Once a year, Faye Smith would put on an afternoon tea for all the In My Paddock people and he would love meeting all the other contributors,” she said.

“He had all these thoughts about the food bowl and what was happening locally and how he was going to solve the problems of the world. Sometimes he’d say something a bit controversial, but he wasn’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers.”

Bill’s memorial service was held at All Soul's Anglican Church, Edenhope on September 20.