SAM Grange came from the New South Wales out- back town of Brewarrina, near Bourke.
He was the middle child of five children and had three brothers and a sister.
They grew up in a small three bedroom house and Sam shared a bed with his younger brother Mick for years.
He and three brothers grew up having bullseyes (patches) on the back of their shorts.
Sam said the boys used to have to polish the lino floors with floor polish. He said it was the worst job, down on your knees polishing the lino floors.
His father Fred was a third-generation carrier with bullock drays, then draught horses and carts and his mum Nora was a competent woman with over a decade experience as a governess on sheep stations.
His father drove for Cobb and Co and would make regular stops at the sheep station where his mother was the governess.
Sam’s mum was a good cook and always fed her children well on mutton and homegrown chooks and whatever they had.
They always had lots of fresh mint growing out the back and a charcoal Koola box to keep butter cool or to set jelly or junket.
Sam would walk to St Patrick’s convent school from age five until he was fourteen.
He was to complete intermediate at school but decided to sit the Post Office Exam and passed.
Sam’s first job with the Post Office at Brewarrina was to sweep the floors, make the ink from powder and change the ink, change the pen nibs for telegrams by day and sort the mail at 7pm three nights a week when the train came in.
Sam went relieving in Nyngan for a while and was taught Morse Code so he could get into postal school. He was accepted in 1951 in Sydney.
He was appointed Postal Clerk at Gilgandra then relieved at Warren and was there for five years where he met Pam.
She often came into the Post Office as she worked for an accountant.
Sam and Pam were married on November 12, 1955.
Sam was sent to Balmain as a Postal Clerk and they lived at Kirribilli until moving to Picton.
By this time Sam and Pam had five children: Lynn, Ross, Cassandra, Anthony and Michael.
Sam then took 2,700 pounds termination pay and combined with 1,000 pounds inherited from his Uncle Jim he bought a Holden station wagon (his first family car) and arranged to buy Lawrence Post Office for 2,500 pounds a property with house and business and 24 hour telephone exchange with Post Office.
Pam could answer the telephones and Sam would be the Postmaster.
They worked hard with five young children for five years to get ahead then an auto telephone exchange took away a lot of their income.
Sam tried cutting cane for extra money but couldn’t keep up with the gang, repaired cane barges replacing missing planks.
They soon found a new home at Canungra Post Office.
Sam took his family to Canungra and never looked back. He often said it was the best move he ever made.
“Good town, good job, good people,” he used to say.
Pam was his assistant and they worked together there for 30 years.
Sam worked for the Post Office from 1945-1996 a total of 51 years.
He and Pam received many awards over the years from the Post Office and the community.
Most notable were the award for Sam’s 50 years service with the PMG department, now known as Australia Post, and winning Queensland Licensed Post Office of the year.
Sam and Pam finally retired in 1996 and moved to Burleigh.
Sam Grange
They had time and savings to travel and went overseas twice and around Australia in the next five years.
Sam said those five years at Burleigh were the best of his life because it was a beautiful place to live, they were still healthy and had finally retired from work and had money to travel.
Sam’s life was simple, he worked hard and was
blessed with a good life for his commitment, dedication and labour.
He was the eternal optimist, and his children honour him for who he was.
The boy from the bush with a love of family, faith and football to the end.
He was truly blessed and he knew it.
Sam’s adult children and grandchildren surrounded him in his final days.
