Mr Beard, 74, died peacefully at his Warrong property on Friday after a battle with cancer.

An employee of the Midfield Group for nearly 50 years, he was there day in, day out willing to do a variety of jobs. His passing leaves a big hole in his family and the same can be said for the company, which has lost a stalwart.

Mr Beard's son Phil and granddaughters Taylor and Kaylee followed in his footsteps working for the Midfield Group.

Colin McKenna, the founder of the Midfield Group, said Mr Beard had been a great loyal friend who was a hard worker.

"Malcolm has had a big impact on our business," Mr McKenna said. "There's not many people who work at places for nearly 50 years but Malcolm was one of them. He was there everyday just going about his job.

"I know I'm going to miss him. Malcolm was just so loyal and dedicated - you could always depend on him.

"He was a hard worker who was highly respected and loved working with livestock and above all things he was a champion bloke. We've had three generations of Beard's working at Midfield which is a rarity in any business. It's a very sad time not only for Malcolm's family but also for the Midfield Group."

His son Phil said his father only had a few loves in life and they were family, livestock and working for Midfield.

"Malcolm was a no fuss sort of bloke," he said. "Malcolm never sought any limelight. His life centred around his family, Midfield and livestock. He started out working on the family dairy farm at Mailors Flat back in 1970 before going to work in the skin sheds for Midfield down at Levy's Point back in the mid 1970s.

"He worked two jobs a day. He went on to drove cattle in the cattle pens at the abattoirs for years before beginning work out at The Union Station where he was a jackaroo doing various jobs around the farms. He loved being outside working with livestock and loved working with the people at Midfield. That's all he wanted out of his life. He set a great work ethic not only for his three sons but his extended family."

Mr Beard's funeral will be held at Guyetts Eastern Park Chapel on Friday at 2pm.

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