John Leslie Arnel was born on June 25, 1941, in Donald. He was the only child of Les and Ivy Arnel. 

Dad was not only raised in Litchfield, but also lived the majority of his life on the family farm in the small township which was named after his mother’s uncle. And he was very proud of that fact.

He was known to his family by his given name John, but was also fondly known as Jack by members of his football family.

Schooling
Dad began his schooling at the Litchfield Primary School before attending the Donald Higher Elementary School, to which he travelled by train, until he was 14 years old. 

When Dad was approximately 7 years old, he spent several weeks in the St. Arnaud Hospital, as it was suspected that he may have had polio. Fortunately this proved to be incorrect. At this time his mother boarded in St. Arnaud and visited him during the day. 

One night a man visiting at the hospital noticed this lonely boy without any visitors. His name was Jack Cherry, and he became a regular visitor, bringing Dad Dixie ice creams and comics. Here began a long friendship, as Dad never forgot his kindness. He looked forward to meeting Jack at the football, or at a ball or dance where Jack Cherry was a member of the Rock-a-teers orchestra.

On leaving school, Dad worked on several local farms, and for approximately four years. Among others, he worked for Colin McConville in his Steel Fabrication Workshop at Litchfield where he learnt to weld. In 1971 after Colin had moved his business to Donald and wheat quotas had been introduced, Dad decided to commence his own steel fabrication business. 

He ran quite a successful business from the family farm for almost 40 years, before he was forced to give it away following a heart attack in 2009. During this time he covered a wide radius, and among many different items built were over 400 large sheds. He then became well known for rearing his chickens, and had a large clientele.

Community
Dad was a very community minded person and became involved in everything local. At age 28, he became president of the Litchfield Reserve Committee – a position he held for the next 23 years. He was a member of the Litchfield Hall Committee for many years and also Back-To Committees. He was awarded a 50-year CFA service medal and also manned the polling booth at the Litchfield Hall on Election Days.

Family
Dad met Margaret Bourke of Charlton and they began courting. They were engaged in 1973, married in 1974 and then became proud parents of three sons and a daughter – Shane, Terry, Matthew and Leonie, who together with Lisa, Jackie, Kristen and Mark, gave them nine very special grandchildren to love — Madeleine, Greta, Finn & Halle, Jack and Meg and Billy, Sophie and Cooper. Dad was a very family orientated man, and loved spending time with his children and grandchildren and sharing their interests with them. He will also be remembered for the care and devotion he showed to both his parents, especially visiting his father every week while in care in the Minyip Hospital for four-and-a-half years.

Sport
Dad became involved in sport from a young age and believed in giving back to what gave him the most enjoyment. He played basketball in Donald and was a member of the Scouts premiership in 1964-’65. 

He played tennis for Litchfield and was a premiership team member in the 1960s. He also played cricket for both Litchfield-Carron and Litchfield-Watchem. In 1971 he notched up 121 not out with the bat in a semi-final against Jeffcott, and often recorded bags of wickets with the ball.

His real love and passion though was for football. In 1956, he began playing as a 15-year-old for Watchem-Corack, where he played for 20 years. 

“The Quiet Man of Football” as he was dubbed when he appeared on the front cover of the North-Central “Football Recorder” in 1973, John had the enviable record of playing for 10 years straight without missing a game. He attributed this to the high ankle style of football boot used back in the day and not the “slippers” which are worn in today’s game. 

He played in eight grand finals, winning four and losing four, playing in two of the “threepeat” that brought Watchem-Corack the very first Halfhide Shield for a triple premiership. 

Upon retirement as a player, he naturally still wanted to be involved, so he became a trainer and a committee member. He was a member of both the senior and junior committees at the club, occupying the junior secretary role for 9 years. He was not only a club trainer but also a league trainer where he was involved with the school boys and junior interleague sides. 

Life Membership
He was humbled to be honoured with a Life Membership of the club in 1991, after 35 years of service. Dad was also secretary of the 1993 Centenary Reunion Committee, and spent many hours researching material for the book – “The Combine Continues”.

Dad’s other claim to fame in his involvement with the football club was the 15 years he spent as the scribe to the “Football Recorder”, writing under the nom de plume “Jacko”. His list of highlights and lowlights were a real talking point and often the first thing read before readers went back to the start of his report.  It was a sad day for Dad when Watchem-Corack played its last game in 1996. 

But with the amalgamation with Birchip came new life, and he fully embraced the new Birchip-Watchem Bulls combination. He continued his involvement as a committee member, trainer and supporter of his four children, who all represented the new club on both the football field and netball court. 

Awards
He was honoured to receive a VCFL medal for service to country football in 1992 and was awarded the Best Clubman trophy in 2000. When he finally retired from active football duties on a Saturday, he had served 49 years in total to both clubs.

Of course Dad’s involvement in sport did not stop there. When the Donald Light Harness Club made an appeal for members, Dad joined that committee. He also worked on the gate for the Donald Race Club as a parking attendant. Dad was always a familiar face behind the barbecue, be that at the trots, the football social days or family gatherings. Dad also became an active member of Probus and enjoyed several trips away.

Illness
Although he would not want us to dwell on this, Dad suffered a lot of illness during his lifetime. This commenced at the age of 50 when he had major brain surgery which was repeated some 4 years later. He always fought hard to recover, which he was able to do. Lisa’s illness and death brought a lot of sadness to our family, and shortly after this Dad suffered a heart attack. Later strokes followed, but hiding in the shadows over the last 15 years was Parkinson’s Disease. 

A move from the farm was made in July 2016 to live in Donald. Mum has supported Dad through all these times, and when it became necessary for him to become a resident of the Johnson Goodwin Homes, two-and-a-half years ago, she became his daily visitor and continued to assist with his care. 

When they celebrated their 47th. wedding anniversary only a month ago in April, it was quite evident that their vows of “in sickness and in health” had not been made lightly. We will always be extremely grateful to the staff at the Johnson Goodwin Homes for the loving care given to Dad, as they grew to love him as we do.

He will be sadly missed, but always loved.

Rest in peace, Dad.