OBITUARY
Joseph Owen Lafferty
Born: 24 December 1936
Died: 20 May 2013
JOSEPH Owen Lafferty (known as Owen) was honoured by his grandson at his funeral, who followed in his footsteps.
Grandson, Jeremy Lafferty, greeted guests to the funeral dressed in his Household Guards (Queen’s Guard) astride a black horse to honour Owen, who was also a Queen’s Guard.
As a young child, Owen was sent to Aghalour Village (meaning village of learning) in County Roscommon in Ireland straight after the bombing of Coventry in World War II.
His father was involved in the rescue and re-building of Coventry after the bombing raids and Owen was brought up by his grandparents Owen and Catherine Lafferty on a dairy farm.
That is where his love of horses and animals began.
Owen joined the Queen’s Guard when he was young and also kept fit as the army boxing champion. He was proud to experience many things during his time as a guard and met many famous royals during his service.
Upon leaving the army, he joined his father’s building business in England where he learnt many old trades in the restoration of old churches and buildings.
In 1974, he decided to leave England for the future of his family and had a choice to make between Canada and Australia. He decided over a family dinner to toss a 50 pence coin to decide – heads Canada or tails Australia.
Owen moved to Melbourne and although it was a shock to the system for Owen, he soon adapted to the ways of Australia and his family joined him a few months later.
Employed as a builder, he worked on many famous houses and Melbourne landmarks including Lindsay Fox’s house, Chasers Niteclub, the Hippodrome and Inflation Niteclub.
He never lost his love of horses and with his son he started a horse riding school in Ferntree Gully called Knox Riding School. He was a keen member of the Yarra Glen Hunt Club.
After many years living in Ferntree Gully, Owen uprooted to moved to Pakenham four years ago and loved his new home.
Owen passed away from terminal cancer on Monday, 20 May. His positive attitude to life, rubbed off on many people’s life, including his grandson.
