The last surviving founder of the George Bass Marathon passed away last week and today the surf boat community will gather in Eden to pay their respects to a true local hero.
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In the early 1970s former Bega District Times editor Curly Annabel came up with the idea to organise a surf boat race retracing part of George Bass’s epic 1797 voyage of discovery down the East Coast.
While many people thought he was mad, Nick Dixon and Al Armstrong came to his aid and in 1975 the inaugural George Bass Surf Boat marathon was held.
Al Armstrong provided his boat “Sara-Jane” as the marathon officials’ vessel every race from the first right up until 1999.
For many years Mr Armstrong dedicated himself to ensuring the marathon ran smoothly and since 1999, when Curly passed, he was the only surviving founder of the race.
Each year the George Bass marathon gives out the Al Armstrong Hat for dedication to the Bass in his honour.
“A true gentleman gone and now the link to the original bass concept has been closed. Rest in peace,” the current George Bass committee posted to Facebook.
On top of his work with the George Bass, Mr Armstrong was also heavily involved with the Eden community.
He was born in Pambula on February 8 in 1920. From there he lived in Penrith and Queanbeyan before serving in New Guinea during World War II.
When he was discharged from the Army in 1946 he moved to Eden where he and Harry Evans started a partnership called Armstrong and Evans.
He was a successful businessman for many years and in 1999 received the Commonwealth Senior Citizen Award for the Eden-Monaro area for his long and outstanding service to many community groups like the Royal Voluntary Coastal Patrol which he founded and served for 22 years.
He was also a member of the Eden Ambulance Service and the State emergency service and the founder of the Eden Surf Life Saving Club.
His funeral is at 2pm today, at the Catholic Church in Eden. Relatives and friends are invited to attend.
Mr Armstrong was one of 11 children and is survived by his sister Nedra Orme of Sydney and his brother Bob Armstrong of Tathra. He also had three children Jill, who passed away at three years of age, Paul who passed in 2010 and his surviving daughter Gail Ward.
He is also survived by his grand children Holly, Dylan, Gemma, Tah’lita and Toscha and his great grand children Rosie, Amelie, Maeve, Charlie, Pippa and Alfie.
