Bruce Edward Rees

So sad to hear. R.I.P Bruce. My family and I went to your beautiful orchard on several occasions and even bought a precious little fox terrier puppy from him who we called Penny. ❤️

Deeply saddened to hear this news. Helped Bruce pack up the shed when he left the Orchid.and got a jacky pup for my troubles. My great uncle Frank March spent many years with Bruce working the Orchid until his passing. Bruce’s passing will mark the end of a very long history at the Orchids and some of Australia’s oldest apple trees! 🍎 🍏

A gentle and unassuming man who was frugal but not a bad bone. He liked most people, but not the disingenuous and selfish. I met Bruce when I was writing his life story for my book ‘Coalfaces’ (available on Ebay). After that I became friends with both he and Flo McNamara, who was the second-to-last person to leave the Cordeaux Valley settlement. Bruce was the last. After Cordeaux (which Bruce always called ‘Thee Cordooo’) they lived next to each other in Unanderra and I was a regular visitor to the homes of both. His family had been operating the orchard for close to 130 years when he vacated. So much history gone. This is truly the end of the era, he was the last of the Cordeaux pioneer descendants. There’s nothing he loved more than his Jack Russells; he was fine to let go of the past and never had any regrets. It was a privilege to get to know all of the old Mt Kembla and Cordeaux people like Jean White, Jack Miller, George Barrett, Noel Murray, Clare Curtis, Freddie Moore, Flo and Bruce.