He helped established the Christine Leslie memorial water feature while he was working at Moree Hospital as the gardener and now, the late Don Tonkin will be forever remembered on the same memorial.
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Christine Leslie was a nurse at Moree Hospital and it was her idea to create a memorial to honour employees who made significant contributions to the hospital.
"The whole idea of the memorial was for any former employee, either still present or deceased, to get a plaque added to it," Don Tonkin's son Damian Tonkin said.
So, as the hospital gardener at the time, Don helped establish the Christine Leslie memorial water feature and, according to his children, it was his wish to one day be added to the memorial with his own plaque.
"That was the one thing that dad really wanted - he specifically wanted a plaque here for himself," Damian said.
Don sadly passed away in 2015, and recently, Don's daughter Simone Lambert arranged a plaque to honour her father and on Tuesday last week, Damian added his father's plaque to the water feature.
"Dad'd be really pleased to have that [plaque]," Damian said.
Damian and Simone now invite other families to do the same for their loved ones.
"Other families can come and put down a plaque," Damian said.
If you are interested in adding a plaque to remember your loved one who worked at the hospital, get in touch with Moree Hospital's acute health service manager Bronwyn Cosh on 6757 0009.
