Cec Dews, who spent almost his whole life in Richmond, was born in Islington, a suburb of Newcastle, NSW to parents Cec and Ina, in October, 1922.
They moved to Richmond when Cec junior was very young and he and his two brothers Greg and John (both now deceased) went to school there.
He enlisted in the Army in 1941 and was posted to the 2/30th Battalion. His troopship left for Singapore and in January 1942 his was the first infantry battalion to engage the Japanese in Malaya. He was sent to hospital on February 4, missing the final battle for Singapore and the surrender in the few days after that and ended up at Changi where he was part of a tunnelling party.
He was released on September 5, 1945, getting home by boat a month later. He was sent to Japan as part of an occupation force and spent a year there, returning in July 1947. He was discharged from the Army two months later.
He met Elizabeth Whitten and they got engaged in December 1949. They married a year later. Their only child, Melissa wasn’t born until almost 12 years later, but Cec used to always say “practice makes perfect”.
His wife Elizabeth died in 1988 and Melissa asked her dad to come and live with her in Melbourne.
“But he told me that all his friends were here in Richmond and he wouldn’t know anyone but me in Melbourne, and he would be just fine,” Melissa said. “I didn’t think Dad knew how to boil water and he’d starve to death, but he proved me wrong and before long had a better social life than me.
“I used to always tell him that because he was never home when I’d call him. He’d tell me he had been out discoing until the wee small hours. Truth be known, he’d just been to the races, or down to the club for lunch or dinner.
Friday afternoons he’d spend with his mate Lyal Binns and his wife Dawn. He would chat with Lyal and Dawn, watch the news and then head home. He loved to have a bet, and was a member of Lyal’s Punters Club.
Saturdays were race days and he would drive to Randwick, Rosehill, Wentworth Park or Hawkesbury with his mate Jenny Stanton and they would always have tales to tell of the “one that almost won”.
He only stopped driving when he turned 90 and gave his car to his beloved granddaughter Bella who still can’t drive it as she’s only 16.
He passed away on July 6 and his funeral was held at St Peter’s Anglican Church at Richmond on Wednesday, July 13. He was buried at Richmond Lawn Cemetery.