Bob carving a crocodile.

Robert Barry Alfred Barling was born on the 6th of February 1940.

Bob was raised by his mother Adelene and stepfather Ernest. Bob had two brothers, Garry and Danny (deceased), he also had two stepsisters, Kaye and Sue.

Bob had three children, Matthew, Todd and Annette.

Bob met Mary Nadycz 29 years ago (the love of his life) and they moved to Harden, where Bob was very active in the town.

Bob instantly fitted in with the Nadycz family and they enjoyed a very close friendship and happy times together.

Bob was a happy, laid-back, stubborn man, who was very clever with his hands, he could fix anything and he was a hard worker.

In his early days Bob worked at the Esso Garage at Fairfield, he then went on to work as a security guard at the Crown in Sydney and then he continued that work when he moved to Harden.

Bob then took on the Harden Taxi Service, where he was very popular.

Bob’s next step was to take up carpet cleaning.

From there, Bob put his hand to delivering mail for Australia Post, unfortunately, he fell on the stairs at the post office in 2017, which started the decline in his health.

Bob was an active member of the Harden gun club and a good shot, he also loved to go fishing, he liked to watch movies and was a regular at Brian and Jan’s video shop for years.

Bob liked music, especially country, he also played the guitar and could play a good tune.

He was also a very talented artist, he mainly enjoyed painting landscapes.

Bob was never idle and he, with the help of Mary, renovated their home.

Mary was officially named Bob’s apprentice and she certainly did the hard yards.

We will mainly remember Bob for the beautiful rocking horses he carved from scratch, sitting out the front of his home in Murrumburrah, made with love and perfection, the last one he was working on is here with us today.

Bob liked nothing more than to jump on his Harley and go for a ride, especially the winding track to Jugiong.

Bob loved his soul mate Mary deeply, telling her this until he passed on September 14th at the Harden Hospital.

The family would like to thank FlexiCare and the Harden Hospital for the excellent care that Bob received, also to one favourite student nurse who went above and beyond for Bob.