Much admired and respected Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) Victoria/Tasmania State Manager David Rhodes passed away peacefully at his home on Friday 15 February.
A great friend and colleague, David will be remembered for many things. To some he was a champion footballer playing six seasons on the wing with Fitzroy and representing Victoria. To all he was a great friend and colleague who approached life with great passion and good humour.
He was enormously proud of his achievements; both personal and professional.
Beyond his considerable sporting achievement, he had a notable career working with Channel Nine and in sports management. But perhaps his proudest moments were reserved for his much loved family. He spoke openly and often to his colleagues of his love for his wife Liz and his three children.
He was a tremendous networker and when he came to work for PCFA started the organisation off on a journey that would result in a remarkable legacy of profile and awareness for prostate cancer across the Victorian Community. His colleagues recall it would be nothing for him to travel for five hours to a remote community to speak about the disease and meet with men diagnosed with prostate cancer and their families. He was enormously generous with his time and loved working with the community and supporters of the organisation.
Supporting people in need was a clear passion for David and he made a significant contribution to the success of PCFA. Perhaps the most lasting of his legacy will be the creation of the Biggest Ever Blokes lunches. Established by Chris McPherson, David worked hard to support Chris in building a series of lunches across regional Victoria to build men’s’ awareness and understanding of prostate cancer and to raise money for PCFA.
In the words of former PCFA Chairman Graeme Johnson, “We have lost a great bloke and a good friend. It is a tragedy that a fit young man has been taken.”
We will miss David, but we will always hold him dear to us in our memories.
