By Matthew Sims
The Endeavour Hills community has mourned the loss of one of its most colourful characters – Paul O’Brien.
Often seen leaned up against his old Series III Land Rover decked out in an Akubra hat and a Driza-Bone jacket in the Endeavour Hills McDonald’s car park with a cuppa in hand, the 55-year-old died last Monday 25 September, just days before he turned 56.
Dubbed many names over the years, including ‘The Endeavour Hills Ned Kelly’, ‘The Endeavour Hills Bushranger’, ‘Crocodile Dundee’ and ‘The Man from Snowy River’, he was just ‘mate’ to many and just ‘Uncle Paul’ to his niece Ashleigh.
Growing up in Mount Waverley and going to the old Syndal Technical School, his laidback nature took him far and wide across a number of different fields, including the mines in Katherine, working as a mechanic and in the Army Reserves.
Paul’s love for the bush was cemented when he moved to live in Kinglake, before losing his house in the Black Saturday bushfires.
Ashleigh said the support he provided to the township after the natural disaster was just one instance of his love for community and his generous nature.
“He helped essentially rebuild Kinglake,” she said.
“He was always willing to help people.
“He was a gentleman.”
Ashleigh said Paul’s distinctive ocker style and mannerisms were there from the very beginning.
“He hasn’t got the standard look – cowboy boots, jeans and a shirt,” she said.
“My uncle was instantly recognisable.”
Ashleigh recalled a time when she was playing a game of footy with her friends when one of them asked who was ‘Outback Jack’, only to turn around to see her uncle standing there with his jacket and hat.
“He even came to my deb dressed like that,” she said.
Ashleigh said Paul’s pride and joy was his old Land Rover, which he maintained for about 30 years since first picking it up during his time in the Army Reserves.
“We planned to rebuild a Series I Land Rover together,” she said.
Posts on the Endeavour Hills Community Facebook groups on Paul’s passing have attracted more than 500 comments, with a number of people describing his generosity.
Ashleigh said the number of people who have recalled meeting Paul or seeing him across the Endeavour Hills McDonald’s car park, brightening their day, was testament to his kind-hearted nature.
“He was just lovely and gentle and kind,” she said.
