Gerald's grandfather had a 400-hectare property he left to Gerald's father and an uncle, which they split between themselves.

Interestingly, Gerald's grandfather transported Mother Mary MacKillop on her 1899 journey from Eden to Bombala in his horse and sulky. This trip began on Easter Sunday and included spending two nights at the McCabe homestead.

Bernard ran dairy cattle and operated a cheese making factory up until the outbreak of WW2. The cheesemaker employed by Bernard joined the war effort and the factory was shut down as a result.

The family property continued to run pigs and dairy cattle, which included a couple of hundred head of milkers. The cream was fed to the pigs and the milk was transported to Bega to make butter.

Gerald's schooling began at Lochiel Public School, where he attended until 4th Class. He rode his horse, Bessy, to and from school each day.

Relying on this mode of transport wasn't always incident free. On one occasion, he and his mate were racing home from school on their horses when Gerald was thrown from Bessy and he was kicked in the back of the head by his mate's horse. Years later, Gerald's horsemanship was seriously tested after his brother-in-law, Huey, cracked a whip that spooked the horse and threw Gerald where he landed on his face. A gold cap was put in place by the dentist in Bega to replace a broken front tooth, but it kept falling out while playing rugby at school.

Outside of school hours, one of Gerald's favourite pastimes was rabbiting with the help of his beloved beagles and ferrets.

For 5th and 6th Class, Gerald boarded at Our Lady of The Sacred Heart School in Bowral and then on to high school at Waverley College in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.

Gerald and his siblings enjoyed returning home to Lochiel from the "big smoke", especially for the Christmas festivities and trips to Pambula and Merimbula beaches, enjoying picnics prepared by their mother, Alice. The family would pile into Bernard's Hudson Terraplane for the 30 minute journey.

Alice was considered to be a great cook. Sadly, her cooking ability wasn't inherited by Gerald as evidenced in later years by his problems with Jan's pre-prepared (including instructions) broccoli bake, which he would erroneously put it in the microwave instead of the oven, and his barbecueing skills. When Gerald cooked your steak, you always knew to check the underside, which was invariably very, very, well done.

Gerald began his working life with Commonwealth Bank as a clerk in the Kogarah branch.

In 1955, at age 23, Gerald took the opportunity for a posting to Rabaul on the island of New Britain in PNG, where he spent 14 months followed by a further 18 months at Kavieng on the island of New Ireland. On returning from PNG, Gerald worked in various Commonwealth Bank branches, then finally the staff department at the bank's head office on Martin Place in the city.

During his bachelor years, Gerald enjoyed social dances at Rockdale and Petersham Town Halls, jiving to the "Big Band Music" of Glen Miller and the like.

He was also active in numerous sports including tennis, golf, squash, cricket, footy and shooting. In fact, back in the day, bank tellers were armed with pistols and the Commonwealth Bank had a shooting range at the Martin Place office where competitions were held against the NSW Police.

Apparently, Gerald was among the cream of the crop of marksmen. (Legend also has it that no Commonwealth Bank branches were robbed while Gerald was at the counter)

Gerald was a very talented tennis player, with a career glittered with several highlights, including taking three games off a young Fred Stolle (who went on to reach world number one amateur status) during a bank interdepartmental tennis tournament.

Undoubtedly, Gerald's finest tennis moment came one sunny Sunday afternoon at St Paul's Dulwich Hill tennis courts, where a young Jan Woodward was representing St Martha's against St Paul's, when she caught the eye of Gerald, playing on the adjoining court.

Gerald and Jan's courtship included country drives, movies, dancing and their continued passion for tennis. In late 1959, after receiving the blessing of Jan's parents, they became engaged soon after, and on 8th October 1960, Gerald and Jan married at St Martha's Church, Strathfield, followed by a honeymoon at Port Macquarie.

Gerald and Jan settled into their new home at Arncliffe, where they lived for the next seven years. During this time Gabrielle, Stephen, Paul, Peter and Bernadette were born. While Gerald went to work at the Commonwealth Bank, Jan was kept well and truly busy tending to the needs of the little ones.

Having outgrown their home in Arncliffe, Gerald and Jan moved to the suburb of Carlingford, joining the Parish of St Gerard's, and so commenced a long association with the school.

By 1971, Gerald and Jan's family had grown to nine, following the birth of Gerard in 1969 and Michael in 1971. Gerald was still with the Commonwealth Bank, but now Jan had seven children to manage under the age of 10. In order to support his growing family, Gerald took on a second job at night at Mayne Nickless.

In 1974, Gerald took the momentous decision to leave the security of the bank and together with Jan, they purchased their first newsagency at Harris Park. While Gerald worked long hours at the shop, in addition to her home duties, Jan regularly worked in the shop to allow Gerald time to go home and rest.

Apart from working seven days per week, Gerald never missed a school working bee and stayed back after church on Sundays to help count the donations.

September 1979 saw the birth of Gerald and Jan's eighth child, Mark. Around the same time, they sold their business at Harris Park, only to take on another newsagency at Winston Hills, followed by their final business at North Epping in 1984.

During the '90s, Gerald and Jan's family was further expanded as a result of three of their children having married. Then followed the birth of six grandchildren. In more recent years they were further blessed by Mark and Nyree's marriage and the addition of two more adorable grandchildren. Gerald now also has three gorgeous great-grandchildren.

In November 1998, Gerald and Jan sold their house at Carlingford and headed north to Killcare. Gerald volunteered at the Mary MacKillop Centre Bookshop and Piety Stall to keep himself busy.

He would also help Jan with various ministries she undertook around the Parish area.

With more time on his hands, Gerald and Jan enjoyed quite a few holidays to the Kimberleys, Uluru, Norfolk Island, Tasmania and a couple of cruises to the Pacific Islands and New Zealand. Gerald especially enjoyed calling in to see family on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.

He also loved his walks with his beloved boxer dog, Madison. The two of them would head off for long walks together followed by breakfast overlooking Broken Bay and Sydney's Northern Beaches. With his new found fitness, he took on the Bay to Bay Fun Run and even the gruelling City to Surf in 2007, with his finisher's photo still holding pride of place on the bookshelf.

Following the passing of his beloved Jan in May 2018, Gerald's health started to decline. The tough decision was made for Gerald to move into aged care at Peninsula Village Umina in March 2023. The family are thankful for the care Peninsula Village provided to Gerald as he was able to put on some weight and regain some mobility. He was also able to reconnect with a couple of friends from his past and make new friends.

Gerald's family was everything to him and he was everything to his family. He worked tirelessly for his family and made many sacrifices to ensure they had the best possible life. His passing has left a hole in his family's hearts and he will be sorely missed, but their memories of Gerald will last forever.