Introduction

Prepared and read at the service by John Ombler, officiating.

Good afternoon, and welcome to this memorial service, celebrating the life of Dion Ombler.

My name is John Ombler, and I am Dion's nephew.

This afternoon we are going to hear from a number of people who will reflect on different aspects of Dion's long and extremely interesting life.

He was a pretty amazing guy, my uncle Dion. We'll hear about his early life, his lover of gardening, his work, his community service, his love of the outdoors, his family life, and more.

Dion crammed a lot into his 90 years. He touched a great many people.

Doing justice to that in an hour or so is a big challenge.

Before we get into those stories, I need to record apologies from two of Dion's daughters (my cousins). Neither Carrie, who is in the UK, nor her family, are able to be here. Also, Eugenie is unable to join us.

And, there have been many more apologies, too many to read out.

And now — to stories of Dion.

Appropriately, we'll begin with a reflection of Dion's early life.

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