Colin Alistair Fell
Born: 15 October 1921
Died: 5 March 2013
COLIN Alistair Fell was a stalwart of Lang Lang until his passing in March.
Although born in Warragul, Colin and his family moved to Lang Lang when he was five to operate the general store and he never left.
Colin started to leave his mark on the area as a young boy; he would tell stories of climbing onto the shop verandahs with friends after school and squirting shoppers with their water pistols or painting whitewash strips on the horses tethered in town while their owners were watching a movie.
He went to school at Lang Lang Primary School and Warragul High School for three years before returning home to work in the family store.
Following the outbreak of war, Colin joined the Australian Air Force as an electrical fitter and he served in New Guinea before being discharged in 1945.
He decided to move away from his trade to continue working for the family business, which he later purchased from his parents with his wife Una, whom he married in 1952.
They had three sons, Trevor, Graham and Brian. Colin worked hard to expand the business, including offering grocery deliveries and introducing self-service supermarket and newsagency. He sold the business to his sons in 1988 and commenced retirement.
Growing up, Colin was heavily involved in the development of Lang Lang as a board member of the Lang Lang Housing Society and member of the Trading Association and Progress Town Committees and a member of the Rotary Club of Kooweerup Lang Lang for 34 years.
He was a past president, life member and a Paul Harris Fellow.
As the family camped at the Lang Lang foreshore in January for many years, Colin also took on a position on the Lang Lang Foreshore Committee and was later named Honorary Secretary, a position he kept until 2002.
Colin was also a keen tennis and football player in his younger years and voluntarily refurbished the tennis surface following the war; he was president during this time and was later awarded a life membership.
He lived in the family home in Westernport Road for 60 years before moving into a unit on his son’s property. He was a great handyman, keen gardener and lived for his family and Lang Lang.
Colin is survived by wife Una, sister Dorothy, sons Trevor, Graham and Brian, his daughters-in-law, seven grandchildren, four great grandchildren, four step-grandchildren and one step-great grandchild.
