The office attendant and former Club Coaches manager said he decided to ‘‘pull the pin” when visiting his terminally ill sister-in-law in hospital.

“To be perfectly honest I really hadn’t considered retirement and always thought I would work at least until I was 65 and was keen to reach the 20-year milestone at the club,” Mr Borg, 64, said.

“But seeing my sister-in-law battling cancer at the age of 51 made me realise there are more important things in life.

“In fact I actually typed up my resignation and sent it from the hospital.

“I was on 10-weeks leave at the time and in the back of my mind I didn’t want to leave the club in the lurch over the Christmas period by not giving them time to train someone else up, so it was a matter of then or wait until after Christmas – and at the time that really wasn’t an option.”

Mr Borg moved from Sydney and settled in Gerringong, where he and his wife Rinalda ran the deli and grocery store in Fern Street for two-and-a-half years, before a trip with his coach driving brother-in-law sparked his interest in the tourism industry.

“I spoke to George Sampson from Kiama Coaches and while working for him for four years decided to do a course to learn more about the tourism industry, which eventually led to me being offered a position as manager of Group 7 Leagues Club buses, which was eventually changed to Club Coaches, Kiama.

“In the end we had three coaches and two smaller buses and it proved very popular, arranging trips for sporting clubs, interstate bowlers and group tours, while we also had a very busy time when Sydney hosted the 2000 Olympic Games.

“At one stage we had more than 1400 members of the travel club.”

However a downturn in bookings and a change of management at the club led to the three coaches being sold and Club Coaches disbanded.

“I was pretty disappointed at the time, but the club instead found me a position in administration and since then I have been working on the front desk, meeting and greeting customers – something I have enjoyed and I will miss the interaction with club patrons.

“I still miss the buses and last year we asked members if they would like us to arrange day trips and we had nine in all using the club’s bus.

“Our trips were always affordable and fun and I am sure anyone who went on any of our trips enjoyed them.”

Mr Borg said one thing that he is very proud of is the club’s courtesy bus, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary next month.

“It’s become very popular and is well-and-truly part of the club.”