Publican and rugby legend touched many - Community mourns the man who saved an iconic landmark

Mr Calcraft, or Cally as he was affectionately known, touched the lives of many during his 54 years in the Shoalhaven.

He was born at Numbaa in 1957 and was one of three children to Winsome and Joe Calcraft (deceased), who also had another son Ian and a daughter Jennifer.

Cally attended Terara Public School and later finished secondary school at Scots College Sydney. There he represented the school in first grade rugby and cricket.

The seeds of a passion for rugby had been planted. He would later become the Shoalhaven Rugby Club president a position he held for eight years.

He was bestowed a life membership to Shoalhaven Rugby Club.

He took on the family dairy farm at Numbaa after his father passed away.

But it was most likely his time as the licensee of the Postman’s Tavern that increased his connection with the community.

In 1994 Cally and his wife Mary-Anne undertook a development that would forever leave their mark on Nowra.

They took the old Nowra Post Office building and developed it into the Postman’s Tavern and in doing so helped preserve a piece of the town’s structural heritage.

Cally made the front page of the South Coast Register in 2003 after suffering a heart attack. His life was saved by the medics on board the Westpac Lifesaver Helicopter and he became one of the service’s most ardent supporters.

The couple had five children; Jess, Joe, Tara (deceased), Lucy, Ned and one grandchild Charli.