Jim Amos died suddenly at Minyip's Dunmunkle Lodge on Saturday, at the age of 89.

He is survived by children Sue, Rob and Wendy, 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. All of them have a well-informed idea of the life their ancestor lived, and the same can be said of many Wimmera families thanks to Mr Amos' work.

The son of well-known Horsham ventriloquist Don Amos, Mr Amos enlisted in the 4/19th Armoured Regiment Prince of Wales Light Horse in 1948.

He served short stints as an observer in the Vietnam War and in Papua New Guinea during his service.

Fellow veteran and Horsham RSL military library volunteer Ray Harris met him a few years later. He remembered Mr Amos' leadership and support for fellow servicemen.

"When the Korean war wasn't going well, the government introduced national service, and I became a nasho (sic)," he said.

"I became aware of major Jim, and he was known as a great bloke. A few years after I finished my obligations... I decided to rejoin with the Horsham CFM army unit 36 Company. Major Jim was in command, along with his good friend Ralph Darlington.

"We attended many weekend and annual camps, and Jim was always looking after his men. He would come into our workshops camp and ask if we could start up the generator. We would ask what for and he would answer 'So I can have a shave'. He enjoyed that joke.

Mr Harris said Mr Amos was also involved in the tricks his division schemed up.

"He got me out of trouble a couple of times," he said.

"We were once down at a camp on Apollo Bay, and because there was no hot water available for the 12 or more blokes to have showers, we would take them into the caravan park. Coming back into camp I got pulled up at the entrance to the camp, who put me on a charge for having a vehicle without the correct paperwork. Major Jim got me out of that one - he talked to the officer and explained the workshops had a vehicle on test or something like that.

"He definitely looked after us all, there was no doubt he was a great officer."

After his service ended, Mr Amos began the museum - which has been running for more than 20 years - and taught one class a month on military history at Horsham's University for the Third Age at the train station.

Another library volunteer and researcher, Sally Bertram, said he was "a marvellous man and very well-respected".

WITH HEART: Jim Amos' passion is preserving the Wimmera's military history

"He was always getting grants for everything," she said.

"He was doing military history night at the U3A with Lance Clayton right up until November - there are seven or eight of us researching at the library now."

Mrs Bertram said the team and Mr Amos had been focusing on World War Two - this being the 75^th year since the conflict ended - in the lead up to his death.

"Jim was always finding soldiers to talk to, and they would come into the office and tell him about their days in the army, and we would look up their records," she said.

"It absolutely (helped the soliders to have a place to talk about their service). I think it should go on a lot more and I would love to have a bigger area to do it in.

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"We had alot of interaction with schoolkid over the years. When we had an exhibition (for Remembrace Day 2018) we had 600 children go through the folders and pick out their relatives.

"Recently Ray went to (Holy Trinity Lutheran College) dressed up in a World War One soldier's uniform and did a speach about (General Sir John) Monash and the kids loved it. That was the sort of thing Jim loved.

"He will be missed by lots of people."

Mr Amos also contributed to Horsham Rotary, and and RSL member for more than 40 years during which he served as Horsham's vice-president.

Mrs Bertram said there were plans to name the library after Mr Amos - "A small but fitting tribute" - and to hold another service in his memory once coronavirus-related restrictions on gatherings lifted.