QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY HONOURS
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Noel Causer's years of service to communities as far afield as Victoria, Queensland and Papua New Guinea will be recognised today as the Corrimal man is posthumously awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia.
Mr Causer died on May 18 at age 82, after 25 years of community service through Rotary, disaster relief programs in Queensland and Victoria, and spearheading social programs in PNG.
"He just saw a need to help people," his wife Isobel said of her late husband's extraordinary drive and commitment to the community.
"He was involved with so many different projects."
Mr Causer moved to Wollongong in 1955, from Quandialla in rural NSW. Joining the Corrimal Rotary Club in 1989, and serving as president from 1995-96, he was a driving force behind many important ventures in his time with the club.
He founded and managed the successful Farm Aid project, giving farming families affected by drought, fire or flood the chance to have a holiday by the beach in Wollongong.
Mrs Causer said his work on Farm Aid - working with local businesses to provide free or cheap accommodation, meals and activities for rural families - was what he was most proud of.
"That was one of his greatest passions. Farming was his roots, he came from a farming family, so he knew what it was like," she said.
"He was helping people who he felt a connection with. Right to the end, he was helping people from the country have holidays here."
Mr Causer also gave time to fund-raising for the New Zealand earthquake and Japanese tsunami in 2011, Bulli Hospital, meningococcal research, and worked with the Leukaemia Foundation.
But his work in PNG, raising funds and awareness for causes including HIV/AIDS, local schools, community centres and hospitals, will perhaps form his most lasting legacy.
"He was involved with Rotary building a hospital in Kokoda, then with Interplast, a medical team for children with cleft palates," Mrs Causer said.
He walked the Kokoda Track on several occasions during his "10 or 11" visits to PNG, his wife said.
"While he was doing that, he brought things to the PNG people like medical kits and equipment. He did one trip where he was showing films to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS."
Mr Causer will today be recognised for his work with an OAM.
"He did know about it. The letter came about a fortnight before he passed away," she said.