PHOTO: Jeff and Wendy Tym are moving to Victoria to be closer to their children.
Community members across the shire have praised long-time residents and contributors to the community Jeff and Wendy Tym as the pair prepare to leave Coonamble for Victoria.
Wendy has served as a sexual assault counsellor based at Coonamble Hospital, while Jeff is a retired Anglican minister, delivering pastoral care and regular church services plus weddings, baptisms and burials in the district’s churches for over 20 years.
“We’re both into retirement age and I think we both wanted to move back a little bit closer to where our sons are. They’re both in Melbourne,” Jeff said.
“I’ll mainly miss the friendliness of people and that, in smaller communities, people seem very supportive of one another.”
He held his final service at Quambone on Sunday 24 November, with parishioners providing a finger food lunch to mark the occasion.
“It was just a normal last service. We did present Father Jeff and Wendy with a very nice esky that hopefully they’ll be able to take with them on their picnics when they move,” Quambone community member Marg Garnsey said.
“He’s performed countless funerals, weddings and baptisms in his time, and has ministered out at Quambone consistently every month.”
Jeff was born at the Coonamble hospital and Wendy at Horsham in Victoria.
They met in Melbourne, where Jeff was ordained as a priest in 1977 and spent over 20 years working with the local diocese, plus two years in Adelaide.
After the sudden death of Jeff’s brother, he came back to Coonamble around 2005 to work the family’s property, with Wendy following around six months later.
His speaking skills caught the eye of former RSL sub-branch Secretary Carol Stanley, who tapped him on the shoulder to speak at ANZAC Day services.
“I roped him into it,” Carol said.
“First of all, he started off doing one little bit, and then I said to him, ‘how about doing the whole service?'”
Jeff went on to build a reputation for delivering a well-researched and moving address each year, encouraging later generations to reflect on the sacrifices and bravery of their forebears in the theatre of war.
Jeff retired from the Parish of St Barnabas in 2020 to focus on the property, although he still performed services in Carinda, Quambone and The Marra.
Wendy also retired from the hospital in September this year.
Libby Burnhiem, Health Services Manager at Western NSW Local Health District, said Wendy is a “remarkable individual.”
“She’s was a great source of inspiration and support and unwavering dedication to her work colleagues,” Ms Burnhiem said.
“She just reminded us every day of the importance of teamwork and empathy and resilience.
“She’s going to be hard to replace and a loss for our community and a gain for wherever they’re going.”
The pair will scale down from 1000 acres at their current property to 200 acres at a spot near the NSW-Victoria border between towns of Cobram East and Yarrawonga.
The Tyms leave Coonamble this month but they continue to care about the future of the local community.
“I think one of the important things is keeping together,” Jeff said.
“I think there are times, when bigger businesses make decisions, where people need to speak up, such as a bank closing or something. We haven’t experienced that yet, but the hours have been cut back.”
St Barnabas Parish’s Barabara James said Jeff had his sermons “down pat.”
“There were no annoying ums and ahs. They flowed and the message was always clear,” Barbara said.
“My personal experience with Jeff and Wendy started with a supportive hug from Wendy on my first venture to church. I had regular personal bible study with them both in those early days. He is a thoughtful man and he loves to share the word of God and does not shove it down your throat or in your face.
“I always found I could ask questions and his knowledge of the bible in English and Greek shows his dedication to the depth of his understanding.
“I also love Jeff’s sense of humour. Very subtle and rarely shared and most likely missed by most.”