LAURIE Fox OAM married his late wife Erica when he was forty, though the couple had met a decade earlier and as Laurie tells it, the story of their romance seems as if it could have been scripted from a Hollywood film.
“By a strange coincidence, Erica and I were bridesmaid and best man at Erica’s sisters wedding years prior, before Erica was married to her first husband,” Laurie explained.
“When Erica and I were eventually married, the roles were reversed and the same couple were our best man and bridesmaid.”
Erica was widowed when her first husband died in an accident at his property.
“It was a most unfortunate thing,” Laurie said.
“Her first husband was building a new house at Kongorong and went out there to look at the progress of a water tank and it collapsed on him.”
Laurie kept in touch with Erica and a few years later the pair began a courtship.
“We were married in 1967, I was planning to get married well before that, but I wanted to have our house built before I told her that we were going to get married,” he explained.
“When the house was finished, nothing in it yet, no floor coverings or anything, I blindfolded her and led her into the house.”
“I took the blindfold off and switched on the power and told her this is our new house, we’re getting married next Friday.”
Erica’s son Craig was eight years old when Laurie and Erica were married.
“Craig was born exactly nine months after his father was killed,” Laurie said.
“I have a letter that young Craig sent me, it has a 20c piece with it, he wrote asking me to be his dad and I still have that letter.”
“I did eventually become his dad and I officially adopted him.”
“These things do happen in real life sometimes, not just in stories.”
Laurie and Erica raised three children, Craig, Susan and Russell, who were all predictably “interested in motorbikes at one stage or another.”
“Russell won a state title and Craig did very well also and won a few titles interstate,” Laurie said.
Laurie keeps hundreds of his sons trophies on display in his home.
“They still pop out here occasionally, I visit Craig every Thursday afternoon and I go to visit my daughter regularly.”
“Sadly I’ve been on my own now for nearly 20 years,” Laurie explained, adding that Erica passed away during her battle with cancer.
“Unfortunately my son Craig has the same cancer now, though he’s still alive and he’s quite bright.”
Laurie has a collection of storybooks he penned over the years for his children and grandchildren, illustrated by his daughter Susan.
Story titles include The Blue Lake Fairies, The Adventures of Iggie Wigg and The Little Lost Engine and every story demonstrates Laurie’s flair for writing and vivid imagination.
“I don’t know where some of these stories came from,” he said.
“They were bedtime stories I invented for my children and I turned them into books to pass down to my grandchildren.”
A family man at heart, Laurie’s eyes lit up when he talked about his grandchildren.
He also spoke fondly of his late siblings and his one remaining brother who now lives in Western Australia.
“Bruce only died 12 months ago – we used to race together,” Laurie said.
“Graham worked for the railway for years and sadly he passed away three years ago.”
“My younger brother lives in Perth, he’s 85 and still in good health.”
He reflected on his own good health and luck in the family when it came to avoiding injury, be it on the racing track or far from home.
“My older brother served in the army in the second World War, he was in Darwin when it was bombed and served in the islands and never got hurt,” he said.
“It’s a rather remarkable story actually, my grandfather was in the Boer War and he came back uninjured and my dad was in the first world war and he returned without ever being hurt.”
“Believe it or not my nephew John, who’s still alive, served in Vietnam and he made it back safely too.”
Laurie was too young to serve in World War II as the war had ended before he turned 18.
“I didn’t know at the time but I was told afterwards that I would not have been allowed to join the army anyway because I was in essential services – repairing farm trucks and all that,” he explained.
“Even if I had been thinking of joining up they wouldn’t have taken me.”
“I’ve never been injured once, never broken a bone in my life and I never smoke or drank once in my life – I was just never interested.”
Beloved by all who meet him, Laurie’s surprise 90th birthday party this month drew a massive crowd.
“I guess I had a lot of happy customers,” he said.
“My daughter told me she would pick me up for a little lunch, she said be ready at quarter to two.”
“I’ve been saying all year, don’t go out of your way to organise anything just because I’m turning 90, but sure enough, there they all were.”
Ever the humble gentleman, Laurie remained modest about his milestone birthday and his many achievements on the track and in life.
“I’ve not done anything special, time just passes and you get older, that’s all.”
