John Walter Monks
Background
John was born in 1953 in Bankstown, New South Wales. His parents, Jack and Dot, moved to Queensland in 1957 with their three children. After an initial stay at the Cotton Tree Caravan Park, they purchased nine acres of prime farming land on the top of Buderim and farmed it for 14 years. The area is now subdivided and the road running through it (Monks Crescent) is named after the family.
Life on Buderim
John and his two sisters quickly learnt about hard work – helping to grow and pack strawberries, bananas and tomatoes, and participating in other duties of the family farm. His sisters, however, took a while to realise that John had a way of avoiding some tasks. He often claimed not to understand just how to do the allotted job, and of course his older and wiser sisters would have to show him.
John attended the Methodist Church in Gloucester Road, and ‘mimed’ his way through all the hymns, much to the amusement of his Sunday School teachers, Mr Bartholomew and Mr McFarlane. Buderim Cubs was among his early passions, as he liked to be in a group and he felt important in the uniform. He was a student at the Buderim Mountain State School and went to one fancy dress ball dressed up as ‘A Buderim Menace’, adorned by his loving Mum with Groundsel bushes. He was often frustratedly called ‘Monksy’ by at least two of his teachers, Mrs Crosby and Mrs Nelson, and sometimes had to stand in the corner for being the class clown. But he (and they) survived the experience and John went on to Maroochydore High School.
After leaving school, he obtained an apprenticeship with Lou Antwon at the Buderim Butchery where he was in his true element and very popular with his customers. He loved the ‘oldies’ and would give them a free sausage or two without Lou discovering, often joking and talking to them about the weather and the ever-increasing traffic on Buderim - even back in those days. John moved to Mudjimba, married and had a son and daughter.
Community involvement
At a very early age, John exhibited a passion for surfing and for his community. He would walk and bicycle down to Mooloolaba every weekend and surf off The Bluff at Alexandra Headland or go up to Mudjimba and out to Old Woman Island. He had a real affinity with young surfers and established a youth surfing group with fitness as the focus. He also formed a committee to promote goodwill and cooperation between board riders and body surfers. He was a life member of Mudjimba Surf Club and staunchly supported any money-raising activities.
Oceans are Weeping
In 1995, aged 41, John was tragically killed on his way to work at the Maroochydore Post Office. More than 100 board riders formed a memorial circle in the surf at Mudjimba to farewell their mate. School pal, surfing buddy and lifetime friend Keith Neuendorf remembers John’s perpetual smile, his crazy sense of humour and the touch of larrikin – a friend to all and greatly missed.
Donor: Carol Dahler
