Happy to grant Colin’s last request

Colin Worsnop’s casket arrived at his funeral in style, on a grape harvesting machine belonging to Bay Grape Harvesters. He worked for the company for 43 years. Picture by Paul Rickard

Mourners at Colin Worsnop’s funeral on Saturday witnessed a special moment when the grape harvesting company he worked for for 43 years fulfilled a family wish.

Bay Grape Harvesters Ltd owners and father and son Reid and Andrew Fletcher used their harvesting machine to carry Colin’s casket.

Reid heaped praise on the father of 11, who worked at the company as a grape harvester driver for 43 years.

“He was a great guy, friend, worker and a magnificent employee who has been a real joy to have around in the history of our firm,”he said.

The Fletchers commended Colin’s reliability in any situation.

“He was a self-taught mechanic and was the kind of guy who if he encountered a problem during the day, would come back with a fix by night time. He was amazingly dedicated,” they said.

Andrew remembers a time when he was still a child, watching  Colin work.

“He was a terrific employee in all the years I knew him growing up. But he had to give up work last year after he fell ill.”

Andrew said, “Even though Colin wasn’t able to work, he loved to drop by the harvesters. One day we were having a barbecue for the workers and he came in and said to the young fella driving his harvester machine, ‘Well I was going to come back next year, but boy you f****d up my machine’.  So he had great sense of humour as well.”

Father and son said that they were a bit “gobsmacked” at first, when they received the unusual request from Colin’s sons, but were happy to carry it out for such a deserving employee.

As well as being a father to eight daughters and three sons, Colin was also stepfather to two daughters. He spent most of his working life at Bay Grape Harvesters.

“We all grew up with Bay Grape, in harvesters, around harvesters. So it was only fitting that he took his last ride on the machine he loved so much and it was what he wanted. He made the plan,” his children said.

Colin Worsnop passed away on May 24.