By Victoria Stone-Meadows
Tooradin said goodbye to a local legend this month with the sad passing of Michael ‘Mick’ Riley, a giant of his community.
Mick was a passionate sportsman, loving husband and father and a pillar of the Tooradin community.
He moved to Tooradin in 1960 to play football for the Tooradin Football Club and cricket for the cricket club.
His love for sports and his passion for seeing his teams succeed lead to the natural conclusion of him being a member of the premiership teams of 1970 and ’71, club president in 1978, and serving 21 years as club secretary.
He won the best clubman award too many times to count, and held a stack of other roles such as timekeeper, fund-raising organiser, head curator and many more.
In his eulogy at Mick’s funeral on 12 April, former president of Tooradin FC Derek Genoni said the club was held together by Mick’s hard work.
“This club would function without Mick being a part of it was never an option,” he said.
Mick’s hard work was rewarded with life memberships of Tooradin Football Club, Tooradin Cricket Club, and the West Gippsland and South West Gippsland Football leagues.
The community of Tooradin also benefitted from the hard work and dedication Mick Riley showed in all his endeavours.
During his time he coached the juniors in cricket, served on the recreation reserve committee, the Rutter Park Committee, the sports club board for many years, school council and the fire brigade, where he drove a truck on Ash Wednesday.
Mick’s son Tony Riley also spoke at his father’s funeral and recounted the fond memories he has of working and playing sport alongside his old man.
“He touched so many people through his time and I can honestly say that I never heard a bad thing said about him,” Tony said.
“He valued his friendships and always found a way to see the good in everyone. His smile was contagious; he was a gentleman and a loyal friend to many.”
“He leaves a huge legacy and a huge hole in our lives but I take solace from our last discussion; I told him he was a great dad and a great man and his simple understated response and the very last thing he said to me was:
“I did my best, I think I did OK.”
Michael ‘Mick’ Riley passed away surrounded by friends and family on Tuesday 4 April and the community said their farewells at the Bunurong Memorial Park on Wednesday 12 April.
