A respected business owner, a family man and a good friend are among the many ways Kilmore’s Eric Salter will be remembered.
Mr Salter died on March 4, aged 80, after a battle with ill health.
He was farewelled by 300-plus mourners on Friday at St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Kilmore.
Mr Salter is survived by his wife Jeanette, children Kristine, Caroline, Duncan, Cameron, their spouses Bruce, Paul, Dianne and Andrea, and grandchildren Lachlan, Courtney, Caitlin, Jack, Tom, Ben, Liam, Keely, Finn, Oliver, Henry and Amelia.
He was a life member at Kilmore Tennis Club and Carlton Football Club.
Duncan said people from many walks of life attended the funeral.
“We were blessed to able to celebrate him with a crowd. There were people there who have known since he was two years old and friends he had met only 12 months ago,” he said.
“He always maintained his friendships – he always made an effort.
“He didn’t need a bucket list because everything he needed to do was done.”
Duncan said his father was a good family man who, along with their mother Jeannette, gave their children great opportunities in life.
“Not only financial opportunities but with his vaues,” he said.
“Family moments were his favourite. He would have 30 to 40 people at his house on Christmas Day and he would always say how wonderful it was.”
Mr and Mrs Salter were renowned for hosting functions at their home.
“Once or twice a year they would have the Assumption First XVIII out for dinner. Thirty-plus people, to give them a night away from school and training,” Duncan said.
“They often hosted Carlton functions like premiership reunions. Both my sisters had their weddings on the property, and there were many engagements, birthdays and the like.”
As well as his involvement in tennis and Carlton, Mr Salter also loved snow skiing – something Duncan described as his ‘20-year obsession’.
Mr Salter’s involvement with Carlton Football Club incuded being a foundation member of the Blue Diamonds and The Carlton Coterie.
He made lifelong friendships with key Carlton identities such as Alex Jesaulenko, Ken Sheldon, Wayne Harmes and David Parkin.
Mr Salter was recognised with life memership at Carlton in 2001.
In an article last year in the Review about his induction into Tennis Victoria’s Country Week hall of fame, Mr Salter spoke about his successful junior career, and his association with some of the game’s greats such as Rod Laver, Harry Hopman and Frank Sedgman.
When his wife and children started playing at Kilmore Tennis Club, Mr Salter’s love for the game was reignited.
He also had a love for the Kilmore township.
Duncan said his father started a surveying business in Kilmore in 1973, and after living in Doncaster for the first 18 months, moved his family to the area.
“We settled in Wallan from 1975 to 1980. That’s when we bought the farm at Kilmore and lived on that ever since,” he said.
“His business covered central Victoria, and at one poinit he had offices in Seymour, Gisborne and Bendigo. But he loved Kilmore.
“I bought him out in 2003 and he worked for another 10 years before he totally retired.
“He knew the whole area like the back of his hand and he knew a lot of people.
“He loved the life in Kilmore.”
