Pop, I love you and miss you. You’ve been a constant in my life for 29 years and to think there will never be another is difficult. Through every Morgan/Davis family celebration there has always been a place just for you. To think there will be an empty spot now is a loss I will never be able to resolve.

When catching up with Pop we could always depend on him for a story about his great passions in life those being his time spent serving in the Royal Australian Navy followed by his later role as a Court Officer at the Supreme Court of NSW. Amazingly, Pop could always work a story about an aircraft or naval vessel into any conversation. A talent unmatched! He had a great amount of knowledge on the subject. His personal library in those particular areas is vast.

His other love was the law. Pop absolutely adored its processes and rituals. He not only sat in on the cases as was required but he immersed himself in them. He would later recount details at family gatherings to whomever would listen. The love he had of his work was obvious. If only we could all feel such passion in our own careers.

Pop was known amongst the judges at the Supreme Court for the sketches he did which he was proud. He would sit there often during a proceeding and sketch portraits of the judges. He even impressed a judge or two who sourced their own copies of his work for their personal collections. I remember too seeing beautiful landscapes he sketched of Brisbane Water and its surrounds and as a child having him encourage Felicity and I to practice drawing them ourselves. I am lucky to have a sketch that he drew of a much younger me which I will treasure always.

My Pop had a work ethic which was unbelievable. This comes with doing what you love. He worked full time into his 70s until finally he relented and cut back his hours but still he continued to commute over an hour back and forth to Sydney on the train. An activity that challenges even the youngest person. Retirement was something that was forced upon him by necessity. It was not something he did voluntarily. How can one not admire such obvious commitment and passion to his work?

On school holidays, Pop would often plan outings for us as children to visit his beloved Court House or such places as the Art Gallery of NSW. As children we may not have always known how to appreciate such cultural activities but now as I look back I can say we were both lucky to have spent that one-on-one time with him and to share in a small part of what he loved.

Pop too was always the joker. He was the master of the inappropriate comment. On the very last day that I saw him in hospital he made a remark to his nurse that he once had a nurse that would check his temperature by kissing him on the forehead as if to hint she should do that too. It was so marvellous to be able to share a laugh with my Pop. He lifted the sombre mood so effortlessly. His clarity of mind in a body that was failing him just floored me.

To my Pop – I love you. You’ve lead an amazing life, the layers of which are so complex and varied I could never do them justice. I am proud to call you my grandfather and you will live on in my very being always and forever for I am as much a Davis as I am a Morgan. All my love forever.