Dave Thomas

A message from Leisa, Charlie and April: Thank-you everyone for your messages of love and support at this very difficult time. Dave was an awesome husband and father. April, Charlie and I dearly miss him. Dave lived a great life. He had lived a full life even before I met him... Geelong, Bored!, touring, Germany, plastering, St Kilda, guitars and his sense of humour had made him many life-long friends. The first few times we met, our conversations were only brief because Dave always knew everyone in the room. But we met our destiny on a freezing cold night in Melbourne in (month) of 2004. Dave’s new band, Tiger by the Tail, was playing at Ding Dong. It was their first gig. And, if my memory serves me right, they were supporting Airbourne, but we didn’t watch any of that! Hardly anyone was at Ding Dong because it was a mid-week gig. I was out with my friend Rachel, and we had been to an event for fashion week. We were meeting Lisa, who was sharing a house with Mick, the bass player in Tiger by the Tail. It’s a story that Lisa, Rachel and I have loved telling over the years and it is best told by the three of us together. The bottom line is Dave dropped me home that night. The rest is history. That was 16 years ago. Two years later, in 2006, we got married at the Albert Park Bowls Club. It was a beautiful summer’s day and it was the best night. We celebrated with family and friends, and great music (thank you Fiona and James!). We had 160 guests - more than initially planned because Dave just kept inviting more and more friends as the day grew nearer. I know that the two best days of Dave’s life were when Charlie and April were born, in 2009 and 2011. He had never been so happy. He loved everything about being a Dad. He spent all the time he possibly could with April and Charlie. He loved playing with them, teaching them to ride skateboards, scooters and bikes. He shared with them his love of books and trivia. He had saved the boardgames from his childhood and played them with April and Charlie. April and Dave spent hours doing some very messy craft together. Plaster moulds were a favourite. And Charlie and Dave spent hours playing all kinds of sports, soccer being their favourite. Dave even tried playing Fortnite. All the time he spent with April and Charlie, his best traits were wearing off on each of them, in different ways. Those traits being his sense of fun, kindness and humour. He was immensely proud of both of them in everything that they did. I am heartbroken that April and Charlie did not have enough time with their Dad, but I am forever grateful to him for being such a great dad and for giving me the two most amazing children in the world. Cancer was part of a journey that I dearly wished went differently for Dave. Laughter and music were his best medicine. He was so well cared for by an amazing team of nurses, doctors and specialists. Dave sadly passed away, aged 56, before the sun rose on Monday 23 March, 2020, at Bethlehem Calvary Hospital, Parkdale, about 500 metres from the beach. Farewelling and celebrating Dave’s life at this time has been made so much harder with the implications of Covid-19. Initially, we planned a service where friends could attend and Fiona and James would sing and play guitar, as they did at our wedding. However, due to social distancing restrictions, it was not to be. April, Charlie and I farewelled Dave, at 10am on Friday 27 March. Only three people were permitted to be in the room with Dave. The rapidly shifting social-distancing restrictions made it immensely difficult to work out how to farewell Dave appropriately. Thank you Phil MacDougall, for your radio tribute to Dave the night before his farewell. I listened. The goodbye for Dave had begun. That night, friends helped organise candles, balloons and flowers, but I had very little idea of what to do. Fortunately, as April, Charlie and I slept, my brother Anthony, in London, planned out for us the celebration of his life (see next post). At the very last minute, on Friday morning, we had more candles and incense (thanks Andrea!). We read some of your messages (see in next post). And, as sad as that last hour with Dave was, it worked. As we said our last goodbyes to him, the room did feel full of love. Thank you to all of you who took time at 10am to remember Dave. Dave forever lives on in our hearts. The memories, photos, stories and jokes that people share help comfort us. We’d really appreciate you sharing a photo and a message for Dave, on this memorial page. Dave’s friend, Mish, sent him a beautiful message last month. It finished it with a joke: “So, Keith, what do you so if it rains when you’re about to play your gig?” “We get wet, stupid.”