Speedway icon Graeme Hose remembered for his kind heart

The former president of Premier Speedway passed away on Friday aged 82.

Graeme first got involved in speedway when it was in its infancy in Warrnambool. He was a pit crew member for Kevin Yeoman at 15.

Warrnambool's first hot rod track was at the racecourse, and that's where he took his wife Merrill on their first date when they were just teenagers.

Graeme put a blanket down on the ground, told her he was going to see Kevin and would be back in a few minutes but didn't come back until the end of the night.

Despite that, and probably because Merrill enjoyed the racing as much as Graeme did, they married and last year celebrated their 60th anniversary.

The couple brought their kids up at the speedway with son Darrell just a tiny baby when they first took him to a race. "We've been born and bred speedway. It's in our blood," Darrell said.

Graeme - who ran his own business - started doing the electrical work at the speedway in the 1970s and by 1989 he was president, a position he held for about 10 years. He then took on the role of manager until 2003.

He was among those who helped organise the Australia-American challenge for the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic which has now become a world challenge.

He visited the sport's American home at Knoxville, Iowa, twice, and tributes have poured in from America.

Even though Graeme stepped away from official duties in 2003, he continued to mow the grass at the Allansford circuit until about two years ago.

"When he got involved in things he never put in 50 per cent, he always put 100 per cent," Darrell said.

After he was diagnosed with asbestosis - something that was probably a result of years spent cutting holes in walls as an electrician unaware of the dangers - he still went to as many speedway races as he could.

"Even to the day he went to hospital he was still saying he's got to find a way of taking his oxygen with him so he could go to the speedway this year," Darrell said.

His children described Graeme as a silent achiever but when he spoke, people listened.

"When he got his grandkids he absolutely idolised them," Darrell said.

"He was a brilliant family man, he really was.

"He was so kind-hearted, he'd help everybody."

The house was always full of people, and the couple became "mum and dad" to many of the regular visitors.

"We loved life and we loved people," Merrill said.

"We always had laughter and jokes in the house."

Speedway wasn't the only sport Graeme devoted time to.

When Merrill took up ten pin bowling, Graeme joined too and within six weeks had won a competition.

He then joined the Warrnambool Ten Pin Bowling Association committee and served as president for eight years as well as three years as Victorian president.

He was president of the social club at the old Lady Bay hotel in Warrnambool when it was a family pub.

Behind the pub was also a regular meeting spot for Graeme and his mates who would get in their boats to go fishing during the 1970s.

The couple operated the old Harris Street milk bar which used to serve lunch to many of the workers at the nearby Woollen Mills in South Warrnambool. There was also a phone box and mail box. They later turned it into a material shop.

"We knew everybody in South Warrnambool because they used to come and get their papers here," Merrill said.

As an electrician, Graeme would often get call outs in the middle of the night to fix the power at a bakery or dairy farm. "If you had no power in your house, he'd be there," Merrill said.

When Ash Wednesday devastated the south-west in 1983, the family didn't see Graeme for weeks.

"He went out there getting power back on for farmers," Darrell said. He also went out that first night to help farmers put down injured stock.

Graeme is survived by his wife, three children - Darrell, Sharon and Karolyn - and five grandchildren.

Friends and family will hold a celebration of his life at the Matilda Room at the Warrnambool racecourse on August 12 at 2pm.

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