The death of Ronald Leslie Winstone, a devoted volunteer firefighter, who passed away on December 18 at the age of 79 at Nazareth House Geraldton, has left the community in a more impoverished state. For fifty years, he was of service to the community. Ronald Winstone, a volunteer firefighter and member of the Geraldton-Greenough Special Emergency Services, leaves behind a history of bravery and kindness.
The death of Ronald Leslie Winstone, a devoted volunteer firefighter, who passed away on December 18 at the age of 79 at Nazareth House Geraldton, has left the community in a more impoverished state. For fifty years, he was of service to the community. After writing the book Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t: Water On, Water Off, which chronicles the history of Geraldton Volunteer Fire and Rescue from the time it was founded in 1880, some people would consider him to be a historian.
The majority of people consider him to be a family man because he has been married to his wife Wendy for nearly sixty years and has five children together, all of whom have now grown up and started families of their own. However, the majority of people would agree that he was a volunteer who was completely committed to serving the community. He had spent more than half a century working in emergency service jobs in Geraldton, Toodyay, and Lake Grace.
Throughout the majority of his life, Mr. Winstone devoted himself to serving his community and courageously putting himself in harm’s way to defend others. The legacy he leaves behind is that of a hero who was dedicated to ensuring the safety of others. Family members, friends, and others who had the honour of working with Mr. Winstone through the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said their goodbyes to the selfless individual who had been instrumental in paving the way for them by providing assistance.
In December of 1943, Mr. Winstone was born, and he spent his childhood in Kurrawang, which is a railway siding located between Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie. It was in 1958 when he decided to leave school in order to begin working as a telegraph messenger for the Postmaster-General’s Department.
In 1966, he married Wendy, who would later become his wife. Mrs. Winstone stated that they had been married for 57 years according to an obituary that was published in The West Australian. Husband of Wendy, devoted father of Anne, Haydn, Vicki, and Sean, and devoted husband of Wendy. At the time of his passing, he was described as “the father-in-law of Callum, the grandfather of Peter, Lyndall, and Georgie, and the great-grandpa of Samuel, Aurora, and Robert…”
The love that we have for you will never end, and you will be in our hearts forever. May you rest in peace. Mr. Winstone began his experience as a volunteer in the emergency services when he joined both the Toodyay Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service (VFRS) and the Toodyay Central Bush Fire Brigade (BFB) in February 1973. He eventually became the captain of the VFRS between the years 1990 and 1995. It was in the year 1996 that Mr. Winstone relocated to Geraldton. In June of that same year, he was welcomed to the Geraldton Volunteer Fire Rescue Service, and ever since then, he has been an indispensable member of the community.
Between the months of August 1998 and July 2000, he performed a brief assignment at Lake Grace VFRS. Subsequently, he returned to Geraldton VFRS and assumed the role of captain between the years 2012 and 2014. The Firey’s Charity Walk, which took place in 2014 and went from Geraldton to Perth, was organised and undertaken by Mr. Winstone. A total of almost nine thousand dollars was raised for the Volunteer Emergency Services Legacy and Princess Margaret Hospital as a result of the relentless journey.
