ForeverMissed
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His Life

John O'Shea - A Man of Influence

July 22, 2010

John was born in Sydney on 27 July 1956 to Denis and Gwen O’Shea. They already had two other children, myself and Therese, and John completed the family. Mum always said if he had been the first born there would not have been anymore. John always maintained that they stopped at perfection.

 

John was a very active child. He enjoyed such outdoor activities as spear fishing in the fish bowl with nails, and spent many hours sitting on the back step in solitary confinement.

 

In 1961, the family moved to Canberra when Dad’s job was transferred. John commenced his education the following year at St Bridges Primary School, and then went on to DaramalanCollege for his high school years.

 

John was a very good sportsman. He played cricket, learned judo, was a member for the rowing club, did weightlifting, and was a totally committed rugby player. His love for the latter carried on throughout his life. He was a respected player for the Daramalan Rugby Club for a number of years, despite referees unfairly paralysing him.

The academic side of high school was not as important to John as the sporting and social life. He was always surrounded by friends and involved in some activity. I recall on one occasion he and one of his mates were building something in the garage, which was located at the rear of the steep driveway. Unfortunately, during their construction frenzy, they knocked over a large tin of pink paint. Rather than mop it up, they decided to hose it away down the driveway. We subsequently had a lovely pink driveway for some years to come.

 

It was in his mid-teens that John developed his love of cars, a passion that remained with him throughout his life. On leaving school John secured a job as a sales representative, and was extremely proud of the brand new ford Cortina sports car he was able to buy.

John married Christine Bourke, and together they had three children: Mathew, Kelly and Leanne. They were their pride and joy. He worked several jobs at once to provide a good lifestyle for his young family.

 

John’s employment resulted in a move to Melbourne for a few years, and then to Sydney and ‘the Shire’. He loved this area and the friends he had here. Since his diagnosis, during his daily conversation with Therese he would tell how many different people had bothered to come and see him. He was truly humbled that the number exceeded 100. The love and support shown by his friends over recent months has been greatly appreciated by John and his family.

 

The stories of his generosity and good deeds to help so many others have shown to us the gentler, more caring side of our younger brother.

 

In his friend’s describe his professional life has been described as exemplary. In every endeavour he took on, his courage and persistence saw him through. He was a great achiever in the true sense of the word.

 

John has always been able to speak on any subject with enthusiasm and eloquence. He had a command of the English language that many could only aspire to. John was in fact one of the founding members of National Speakers Association of Australia. The NSAA has gone on to become the leading organisation for guest  speakers in Australia and there are members here today to pay tribute to John’s  great contribution.

John’s business acumen was remarkable and came to the fore at a young age when he created a business bringing highly sought after motivational speakers from the U S.  Denis Waitley, renowned high performance lecturer, who trained the NASA astronauts and Zig Ziglar, famous for his many books including “See You at the Top” were among them.

 

John went on to set up his own Sales and Management training business, where  he inspired others to believe in themselves and to rise to levels in their various fields they did not believe possible.

 

John always practiced what he preached. His ability in the sales arena was unmatched. Wherever he worked, he would consistently break all company records with his determination and powers of persuasion. He always took the other person’s point of  view and showed them how he could help solve their business problems. And it worked!

 

John also always had time for the younger generation. Whether it be on the rugby field where he was an exemplary coach for Southern Districts, counseling boys to be better that they ever believed on and off the field, or speaking to kids with cancer at CANTEEN away weekends.  John was also a foundation member of Youth SWAP, (SALES PEOPLE WITH A PURPOSE) and did much to encourage young men and women entering the sales area.

John always wanted success for others more than for himself. He was one of life’s true givers. He gave of his time, his incredible knowledge on so many subjects and his ability to inspire so many people. Everyone in this church today is here because John touched their life in some way.

 

John was a passionate man. He was passionate about life. His great love of Motor Racing Sport saw him pursuing his dream of a business bringing the very best of the cars and their drivers in reach of the fans of the sport. Unfortunately his dream was cut short by his untimely passing. His knowledge of the history of the  sport was so extensive and precise, he could tell you not only who went round  what track at what speed in 1976, but how many inches of tread were left on the tyres at the end of the race!!! Indeed the motor racing commentators and writers would often contact John to check their facts before publishing their articles. It his John’s wish that his final resting place be on MountPanorama, where his passion was.

 

John’s recent passion was Golf, which he took up only a couple of years ago. And as with so many things that he did in his life he pursued this with determination and a competitive spirit. Even with odds of 44,000 to 1, he managed to score a Hole In One recently at Kareela Golf Course. When John first learned of his illness he said “Well there goes my international golf career!”

But John will be remembered by most of you for his infectious humour. His catch cry “HI HONEY I’M HOME” was heard by one and all whether he be arriving at a friend’s place, social engagement or even a business meeting.  John was always the Class Clown and he made all of us laugh at ourselves and life in general. Even while he was in the latter  stages of his illness, he was still at it. When asked by one of the nurses if she could have his name before giving him his medication, he said   “No….what’s the matter with your own name!”

 

 And he loved to go to Chinese Restaurants and order the toasted ham sandwiches with fries on the side…leaving the staff in a dilemma and his fellow diners cracking up.

He could be regularly seen at his favourite watering hole, The Centre of Higher Learning, alias Boyles Hotel at Sutherland, always surrounded by a group of his loyal friends while he  entertained them with his stories and jokes. Yes, John had the ability to see the funny side of life and  left a smile on all of our faces.

 

John’s knowledge on a wide range of subjects was outstanding. He was a speed reader with a 90% retention rate of anything he read. If you wanted to know something you just had to ask John. His brain was encyclopaedic and he was affectionately referred to by those close to him  as “Funk and Wagnalls”.John not only knew so much, he had the ability to impart that knowledge to others with clarity. He was a true teacher.

 John O’Shea has left a great legacy to the world and his life may be summed up  by this quote by his friend and mentor Denis Waitley:

“A life lived with integrity, even if it lacks the trappings of fame and fortune, is a Shining star in whose light others may follow in years to come.”

 

John had many things he loved in his life, but none so dear to him as his three children and 8 beautiful grandchildren. Mathew, Kelly, and Leanne along with Therese and myself were with John till the end. During this precious time he was able to say the most beautiful loving words to comfort us knowing he was soon leaving this world.

 

JOHNS GRANDCHILDREN

John was lucky to have 8 precious grandchildren whom he adored. John gave each grandchild a special name.  He called his eldest grandson Jarrod ‘Best Friend’, then there was Fantastic Fayth, Dynamic Darcy, Best Jessy, Cherished Chelsea, Beautiful Bella, Tubby Tristan and Mitchey.

 

His grandchildren meant the world to him and he carried a photo of each one of them in his wallet – never mind his own 3 kids….  He would show a stranger in the street these photos as he was so proud.

He spent as much time as he could with them & at times it was very noisy & stressful but John didn’t mind as it gave him a good excuse to have a drink.  His commitment to his grandkids was the long distance trips to spend time with them and the many day trips simply to watch them play sport and be there for them.

He was a wonderful poppy. The grandkids adored him and they will never forget him.

John had different relationships with each of his 3 children.

 

Mathew was John’s eldest son and he called him ‘Champ’.  Growing up, Mathew and his father spent a lot of time together.  John would always be part of whatever sporting team Mathew belonged to – whether a coach or a supporter, he was always there.

John helped and encouraged him with all his sport and taught him many valuable life lessons which will stay with him forever.  BUT he was always the expert!!!!!  Like when Mathew showed a keen interest for the first time in cricket, even though John had never played cricket at as senior level, he knew better than the professionals.  Even when distance became a factor, it didn’t matter as John would travel up to 6 hours sometimes to watch Mat get a first ball duck…  but it never mattered to him.

 

It was around this time that John passed on his passion for motor racing which was still as strong as ever up until his final days.  When it came to Bathurst each year no matter what state they were in, they always found a way to watch it together, sometimes at the track.  Bathurst was a boy’s world and a special time for John and his son.

A lot of planning and preparation went into Bathurst each year, an example of this was in 2005 when for 6 months prior to the event John had started buying top shelf tents, cooking equipment, camping supplies the works.  They were completely decked out.  The only problem was that neither of them could put up a tent so they ended up giving a case of beer to the campers next to them to set the tent up.   At the end of a huge weekend and after buying all this equipment (that was only used once as takeaway food became the preferred choice), they left the tent standing and the equipment there as it was all too hard to pack up, but this didn’t matter to John, his words were ‘its all good’

 

For Mathew,  John has had a lasting effect on his life and will be missed greatly, he will especially miss the many stories over a few beers.

 

Johns called his youngest daughter Leanne,  ‘Hubble’

Leanne is the baby of the family and from the first moment she can remember, her Dad always called her Hubble. I don’t think that a lot of people knew Leanne’s real name because John always called her Hubble.

Leanne has never been good with words, as John would say, she had a Hubble dictionary.

Hubble has many memories of her Dad, but what she remembers the most is how he was always a phone call away. No matter if she needed advice or just wanted to speak to him for awhile, he was always there, day and night.

Leanne remembers when she was at primary school, John would always drive from Sydney to Canberra to watch her receive an award or watch her on stage doing a play, even though she was only on stage for a couple of minutes. But he always made sure that he was there, no matter what.

When Leanne was about 16, she moved to Sydney and lived with John and her sister Kelly for a period of time. John used to drive Leanne to work, even though many times he would drop her off at work and then have to come and pick her up five minutes later because she had got her days confused.  John used to say that she had “pulled a hubble”.

John loved the fact that only Leanne could drive a Police car and crash it, and then be promoted the very  next day; John would say to her that she had “pulled another hubble”.

John was always there for her when she needed him - he always knew what to say or what not to say. When Leanne’s husband, Joseph was deployed by the army overseas for 8 and half months, John would call Leanne every second day to see how she and the kids were doing

Leanne will miss her Dad so much, and her life will never be the same without him. Not having him a phone call away is going to take time to get used to. …

John called his eldest daughter Kelly,  ‘Bubba’

Losing her father is one of the most difficult things she has had to go through but Kelly realises how fortunate she was to have John as her father.  He was a devoted father and showed strength and love towards his family right up until his final moments, he was so brave.

It was never a problem for John to drop everything  to be there for Kelly.  They lived together for many years in Sydney, worked together, and socialised together.  They have shared many memories together.

Even when financially times were tough, John supported Kelly and her eldest son Jarrod at his own expense and made sure they were looked after.

 

John was proud and ‘relieved’ when Kelly married Vaughn in 2002. Vaughn and John formed a wonderful bond straight away and became great mates. They all lived together for several months and once again made great memories .
 
For Kelly there are not enough words and not enough time to express how she feels about her Dad, as they were so very close. They were together for the good and the bad times, the ups and the downs, the tears and the laughter. John was a wonderful father to her and a wonderful poppy to her kids.
 
The sad and emotional journey that John faced over the last few weeks was tempered by the love and support that his children gave him. They travelled from all around Australia to be with him during his illness as often as they could. They came together again in the final week to share their tears, provide the support and just ‘be there’ for their father. 
 
John’s spirit will live on
His Spirit will live on in his children,
they are deeply sad at his passing- he will never be forgotten.