Carol
Fruin Keith Stedman
8
August 1916 - 19 May 1954
In
memory of a husband and father, soldier and poet, thinker and
teacher.
Slowly
the passing years went their way into eternity.
Slowly
dreams we'd fashioned in the spring of life
bloomed
into reality.
Oh so
slowly, like the miles of god
and
yet surely years must pass.
Mere
man can never halt their march.
In
silent majesty one by one they drift
into
the empty silence of infinity, but our dreams,
they
are surely marching to their own fulfilment.
Slowly
in Gods good time,
we
must be fashioned by the fire of pain.
Lest
such dreams prove too divine for mortal hearts.
In the
dark of deepest sorrow we must see
the
light of something mystic beyond mans ken,
lest
mortal eyes should waiver blind
at the
light of dreams fulfilment.
One of the many poems he wrote in 1941.
One of the many poems he wrote in 1941.
In the
cosmic scheme of things thirty seven years is not a long time. Yet
there are some who will experience more in that thirty seven years
than most do in a lifetime.
Carol
was born to an English engineer father and proud Irish mother.
They were new land farmers at Tarin Rock, 280 kilometres South East
of Perth.
He
was the youngest, sister Melva the eldest then brother. "Jim"
(Lawrence David ).
Primary
school was completed at nearby Kukerin, this was followed by high
school in Albany, 170 kilometres away.
Over
the following eight years Carol was to work in several positions in
the south western region of the state.
In
April 1941 he enlisted in the Army.
While
on leave on a river cruise down the Swan he met the girl who would
become his wife. It was love at first sight over the next six months
he wrote her a series of poems, two of which are featured here
He saw
service in the Middle East in the 2/28 Battalion A.I.F.. During a
major campaign in 1942 he was seriously wounded. The injuries
brought to a close his military service.
Before
discharge he married his "sweetheart”, this was June of 1943.
Their first child was born a month prior to Victory in Europe, in
April of 1945 Over the next seven years the family grew to four
children.
As a
civilian again his career followed several paths from farming to
finally working in Perth at the electoral office.
Christmas
1953 was great family gathering that included grandparents and talk
of the future. As with such occasions the obligatory family photo was
taken. It was to be the last "family" photograph.
The
legacy to his family are the minds that were stimulated to see and
think beyond the immediate and search for truth in the infinite. The
young family learned from stimulating and challenging games and
sharing the majesty of the night sky, filled with stars galaxies and
constellations.
Sixty years on since his passing his descendants still farm some in
the hometown of his wife, some in Albany and some followed his
footsteps into the city. Some have had their own adventures around
the world before returning home to begin new generations.
The
legacy continues as succeeding generations search for their origins
and realise that in their ancestry is a man who was a part of one of
the greatest world shaping events of the twentieth century, the
second World War.
A man
who left a lasting influence on the thinking and compassionate
understanding of others and that the ability to inspire others can
be done despite physical, and emotional challenges.
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