YOUR STORY: Frederick Vincent Alwyn Nothdurft was born on September 16, 1940.

He was the second child of Eddie and Sylvia Nothdurft and the family lived at Hirstglen until they moved to Chinchilla to share farm for the Johnston family.

Fred was 11 years old when the family came to Chinchilla. Dorrie and Fred would often be late for school, having to clean up the dairy after milking before then walking into town for school.

When Fred left school, he worked for his uncles for a while until he got a job at Emerson's Sawmill in Chinchilla. It was there that he gained his vast knowledge of timber and sawmilling.

He knew his job. After his time at the sawmill, he took a job working dozers for John Daly. Then he had a stint at the council before going back to sawmilling with Wildman's.

His next job was with the forestry, driving a gravel truck. One day he crossed a grid loaded with 10 ton of gravel when the stub axle on the truck broke, causing the truck to crash into the table drain. The driver following in the other truck could see only a cloud of dust.

He knew what had happened, so radioed for help, fearing Fred was dead or badly hurt. When the dust settled, out of the cab stepped 'big bad Fred'. This was a nickname he had earned because of the wild antics Fred had been in with bikes and cars from when he learned to drive.

While Fred was with the forestry, he met his wife to be, Jill Millard. They were married on December 23, 1967, and settled in Toowoomba.

Fred went back to work for Wildman's Sawmill in Toowoomba but moved to Tara for a short time, working at Wildman's mill there.

He then went back to Wildman's in Toowoomba and stayed until he took a redundancy payout. In all his years there, he worked as a mill hand in all parts of the mill, then became a salesman on the floor.

Fred knew where every stick of timber was racked on the floor.

After leaving Wildman's, he worked for TFD, until his health forced his retirement.

Fred and Jill's first son Robert was born in Toowoomba, followed by Brian and Jennifer, the twins. Then along came baby David, who had so short a little life. Fred took David's death very badly.

Fred got involved in many interests in his lifetime. He was a member of the rifle range during his teens, then he went into the army reserve.

He loved his guns, hunting and camping. He then found archery, which he took to with a passion and was able to win several trophies in this field. He was involved in teaching children from Toowoomba schools the art of archery.

In his younger days, he loved to dance. He mastered the jive and, along with his dance partner Elaine Dudley, won many competitions.

Fred's health in the past few years had been hard, but he dealt with it. The Nothdurft, Cann and Sutherland families have been friends for all these years and they came to think of one another as family.

Fred is survived by his wife Jill. The two were married 48 years. He is also survived by son Robert, Margaret and grandson Thomas, daughter Jennifer, her twin brother Brian, Amanda and grandchildren Isaac and Ariel, as well as his half-brother Ray, sisters Aileen and Lorraine and their families.

Sister Dorrie and brother Mick pre-deceased him.

OBITUARY

Frederick Vincent Alwyn Nothdurft

BORN: September 16, 1940

DIED: February 27, 2016

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