One of Warrnambool's most enduring business owners has bid farewell.

In true Peter 'Cork' Walsh spirit, there was no fanfare when he clocked off from Macey's Bistro after 40 years.

At 77, he is looking forward to doing not much, although he still owns the Lady Bay apartments he built on the site of the city's most talked about nightspot - the Lady Bay Hotel. That hotel was the centrepiece of the city's thriving live music scene in the 1980s and early '90s.

Cork, as he is fondly known, has been a quiet achiever. And a bloody hard worker. Seven days a week, day and night, he has worked for decades.

He always had a chat with patrons, he knew their names and made them feel comfortable.

What people didn't see was his generosity.

I reckon he would have sponsored just about every sport or club in this city, and beyond, during his 40 years. The Macey's Bistro Classic for greyhounds each May just rolled off the tongue. Anyone involved in sporting clubs or competitions knows how hard it is to attract sponsors and keep them. When I was involved with the Warrnambool Volleyball Association as president across a decade, Cork was one of the biggest supporters.

He didn't want fanfare, just a hand shake. If our members supported him, he supported us. Simple.

I'm going back about 25 years and an opportunity for Warrnambool to host a touring Japanese side in a series against Australia's men's volleyball team came up. It was a golden chance for us to promote our sport to a wider audience. The match, at the old YMCA stadium in Queens Road, ended up attracting a capacity crowd but how would we feed the players and officials after the match? These were athletes and a run through the drive thru of a fast food outlet was not going to cut it at 9pm.

Guess who came to the rescue? Cork Walsh. He kept his kitchen staff back (at no cost to us) so when the teams arrived well after the restaurant's normal closing time, there was plenty of food.

It might not seem much but it was huge for us as organisers. And we could stop thanking him. He seemed embarrassed because to him was no big deal.

Cork will be missed but he won't be forgotten, especially now that he says he is looking forward to just walking into the pub to have a drink with friends. And he has plenty of them.

Until next week,

Greg Best

Editor, The Standard