Anselm Raj Macbryde 16 May 1975 – 29 September 2024

Dylan Eskrigge

Hi, I’m Dylan. Anselm’s nephew. The first memory I had of my uncle was when I was around 5 years old. At the time I only knew him as the kurdaitcha man, as my family would only refer to him as that. He was quite intimidating at first, he was tall, had long scraggy hair tied in a pony tail with a thick moustache, he was also very loud spoken. But I eventually warmed up to him, and spent some time together during his visits to Geelong. I remember this time; I would have been around 7 years old; he would talk about this really good fishing spot where he would catch fish all the time and that he will take me to fish there. After me constantly asking him to take me, he finally did, we arrived, got out the car, grabbed the rods and gear walked over to the bridge and I said to my uncle “how can we fish here when there’s no water” to his shock and horror, it had dried up. We would also go on trips to the Geelong tip and look for anything that may be valuable. Anything from bike parts, electronics and car parts. I remember the first time he took me, I said to him “isn’t this all just rubbish uncle Anselm, he replied “all these things here could be useful one day” if you looked in his backyard, the man liked to collect things. He was very quick witted, and had a nickname for everyone and a theme song to go with it. He would always call me jamindar, which has stuck with me. Although he wasn’t around much, as he spent most of his time in Adelaide, I loved him dearly, He would always tell me “Uncle loves his nieces and nephews, I will always be here for you”. Even at his sickest he would make light of situations and goof around. He was quite famous in Baxter wing 6 at Geelong hospital, he knew all the nurses of course and constantly tried to set me up with them. I will miss you uncle; may you rest in peace.