"He was pretty laid back, he loved sport, liked a beer, liked a punt."
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Those are the words of Danny Stammers whose father, Ken "Pinga" Stammers, died on December 2 after being diagnosed with leukaemia five weeks prior.
Born in Carcoar, Ken and wife Maureen moved to Blayney in the late 1970s. Through watching his kids and grandkids play, he became a well-known face around the Blayney Bears Rugby League Club and would be named a life member.
It was that commitment to his family that would stick with Danny.
"He would always try and get to as many games as possible to watch the kids or grandkids. He and mum made the trek up to Queensland to watch my daughter when she made the NSW school touch football team. When they were playing, if they could get there they would go," he said.
"He was friends with older people and younger ones, he could go to the pub and have a beer with blokes in their 20s or people in the 70s. He also loved his veggie garden, it was a big part of the family."
But he was far from just a supporter.
Ken was the team manager for the 1983 under 18s Bears team that beat Cowra in the grand final.
His daughter Kathy said he would never like to put anyone out.
Asked what she would remember most about her dad, she said: "Being loyal, being very much a family man. He did all the housework at home. He also once talked a girl from jumping off the cliff at the Gap in Sydney which made The Telegraph."
Ken continued to work part-time up until he was 77 years old.
"He started butchering at 15 years of age in Carcoar which is now a little café called the Village Grocer and that's where we lived, behind the butcher shop," Kathy said.
"He continued butchering up until about five years ago when he still worked casually for my brother. He would go down one day a week and annoy my brother.
"He was very active and a hard working man. He was very well known, be it from the butcher shop or the football."
Ken had six children, 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. His eldest brother Ron is still alive at 96 and lives in Cowra.
Ken's funeral will take place on Monday, December 13 at midday at the Blayney Community Centre. This will be followed by a celebration of his life at the Blayney Golf Club.
Ken died, aged 82 and he and wife Maureen would have celebrated 59 years of marriage in January.
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