A former Illawarra couple who hoisted their children to safety moments before being swept to their deaths in Queensland this week have been remembered as heroes.When powerful flash floods surged through Toowoomba on Monday afternoon, Steven and Sandra Matthews’ final moments were spent helping their two children, 21-year-old Samuel and 16-year-old Victoria, through a manhole in the ceiling of their Spring Bluff home.But when Samuel turned to help lift up his parents, he found the former Farmborough Heights couple had already been swept away by a raging torrent - which has so far claimed 10 lives and left 78 people unaccounted for.POST YOUR TRIBUTES TO THE COUPLE BELOWSpeaking to the Mercury yesterday, the Dapto family of Mr Matthews remembered him as a loving family man and a hero.‘‘I feel a sense of pride; I know that the next one up in the ceiling after the kids would have been Sandra.‘‘Steven would have been the last one up,’’ Steven’s father, Jack Matthews, said.‘‘I’m proud of him, yes. He died a hero.’’A tsunami-like wall of water inundated Toowoomba and the surrounding region about 2pm on Monday.The Matthews’ residence, located on the side of a steep hill 14km north of Toowoomba, was just one of the areas impacted by the severe conditions, described by the Bureau of Meteorology as a ‘‘one-in-100-year event’’.After attending primary school and high school at Berkeley, Steven began an apprenticeship with Dynamic Electrical.He married his sweetheart Sandra Graham, formerly of Woonona, in 1981.The Matthews moved to Spring Bluff six years ago to establish their own electrical and air-conditioning business.An ordained minister and devoutly religious man, Steven was also a keen motorcycle enthusiast and sportsman, winning gold in his age division for weightlifting at the 2009 World Masters Games.‘‘He never wanted to be a balcony-strutter or up with the greats, he was just happy to be alive and be in life - he had a very easygoing nature,’’ Jack, 87, said.‘‘He was actually born on my birthday, and we were always very close.‘‘He was the clueiest kid, he was always studying things and very inquisitive, the way kids should be.’’As the family comes to terms with their loss, memories and special occasions were remembered yesterday.‘‘I’ll never forget a weekend when Steven was only very young, we went down to Currarong and walked right to the edge of Point Perpendicular,’’ Jack said.‘‘We stood there and I said ‘gee, it’s a long way down isn’t it’. I wasn’t worried and he wasn’t worried - we were in it together.’’Steven’s sister Judy Brewer described him as a loyal, loving family man.Steven’s cousin, Mark Matthews, said he had played an instrumental role in the community during his time in the Illawarra.‘‘Steven worked as a pastor at the Christian Revival Centre at Balgownie; he was certainly a very outward-focused and diligent member of the community,’’ he said.The family will be in contact with Steven’s children today to work out funeral arrangements.‘‘I want Steven to be buried down here, this is where he belongs,’’ Jack said.‘‘If the kids want them buried up there in Toowoomba, I would like to see a memorial service down here as well.’’Steven and Sandra Matthews are survived by their four children, Daniel, Sarah, Samuel and Victoria, and their four grandchildren.