A 'good bloke' who was the last of the Light Horsemen

Mr Seyffer died on Monday, April 24, just a few weeks shy of his 100th birthday.

He is being farewelled during a funeral service at St Michael's Church in Nowra on Thursday, May 4.

Mr Seyffer moved to Nowra with his family in 1924 when his father Lionel bought a watchmaker and jewellery store in Junction Street.

The family lived above the store, and Mr Seyffer told of seeing an early Anzac Day parade from his balcony when he was just four of five years old, and marvelling at the Light Horse personnel riding along with their slouch hats and feathers.

"That was his first impression of the Light Horse, and that when he said he wanted to become a Light Horseman," according to Rick Meehan from the Keith Payne VC group.

Following the outbreak of World War II Mr Seyffer was among a group of about 50 young men from Nowra who all joined up together.

"We all joined up," he said in an interview a few years ago.

"All the lads here more or less joined up together. Some went off to other arms of the defence force - the likes of Tom Webster and Jim Rainsford.

"The Light Horse crowd was approximately 50 blokes and went away in December '41 and stayed away.

"They broke us up of course, they didn't take us as a group but we referred to ourselves as Light Horsemen. We went with the intention of being Light Horsemen."

Mr Seyffer served with the Light Horse in New Guinea, New Britain and finally Rabaul.

Shortly after returning to Australia Mr Seyffer met his wife Pat, and they married in 1950 before having four children together.

But Mr Seyffer's desire to serve was still strong, and he joined Nowra Legacy in 1954, helping to support widows and children who had lost their fathers in the war.

Ray Pearson from Nowra Legacy said Mr Seyffer was heavily involved in helping the young people find jobs when they finished their schooling, taking the place of the fathers who had died and using his contacts in the business world to help set many people on the paths to strong and prosperous futures.

"He was a top bloke and very well respected," Mr Pearson said.

Mr Seyffer was held in such regard he became the patron for Legacy across the Illawarra and Shoalhaven, according to Mr Pearson.

"His work in the veteran community was second to none," added Darryl Kelly from Nowra Legacy and the Keith Payne VC group.

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He described Mr Seyffer as, "An amazing character, who knew everyone and was so well known in Nowra.

"His loss will be sorely felt in the Shoalhaven," Mr Kelly said.

Apart from Legacy and supporting those impacted by the war, Mr Seyffer was involved in many other things, according to son Michael.

"Dad was always busy - building playgrounds, raising money for different projects," he said.

"He was involved with setting up pool, raised money for hospitals and community facilities, fought fires - it was all done locally because governments just didn't have the resources," Michael said.

He said the generation raised through the Spanish Flu pandemic, Great Depression and World War II was simply more self-reliant.

"If someone was worse off than them they took it upon themselves to try and help - that was the ethos," he said.

Like his father, Mr Seyffer became a watchmaker and ran the Nowra store for several years, but sold it shortly after his own father's death in 1974.

Michael said it was not the career his father wanted, but it was something he could not escape.

"Dad never wanted to be a watchmaker, he never wanted to be in that field," Michael said.

But even after he sold the shop he continued to work from home for another 20 years because "People kept bringing watches up and clocks up."

Mr Seyffer was also renowned for his skills in engraving.

Michael said his father often spoke about his experiences growing up in Nowra - of the children from the Catholic and state schools exchanging a few insults on their way home from school before they would all get together for impromptu cricket matches, or the boys still in primary school walking up Junction Street with their .22 rifles to go shoot rats at the West Street tip.

My Seyffer was simply "a good bloke," Michael said.

"He was patient, you knew where you stood with him, very moral, very trustworthy," he said.

"Integrity was fundamental to him, and he was pragmatic - that generation couldn't afford to be idealistic."

Michael said his father was always aware of the choices open to him, and in all situations, "He would always do the right thing."

Mr Seyffer's wife Pat died in 2013, and he is survived by sons John, Michael and Paul, while his daughter Julie died in 1979.