Euroa father of four and grandfather of two who is “first to arrive and last to go home” at his local football and netball club, and is a respite carer for a child with Down syndrome, has been named the 2010 Father of the Year for Victoria by the Victorian Father’s Day Council in a ceremony at the Melbourne Town Hall today.

Chris Berry, 48, was nominated by one of his children, Aimee, 21, who said: “Everyone should be so lucky to have a dad like ours.  He’s always supported all of us 100% in our dreams – even when they’re a little crazy – and he’d do anything for us, anytime. We can still call him at 3am in the morning and he’ll come and get us!”  Today only son Haiden, 20, still lives at home with Chris and wife Rowena, while Emma, 28, and her fiancé Guy and children Oscar, 6, and Harry, 3 ½ live in Euroa. Aimee lives and works in Melbourne, and Lisa, 26, is in the UK.

Chair of the Victorian Father’s Day Council of Victoria, Don Parsons, said Chris “was a wonderful role model to all fathers, and an inspiring person valued highly not just by his children and grandchildren, but also by the wider local community, for his contributions to other families’ lives, through the local football and netball club and as a respite carer.”

Linda and Michael Kennedy, of nearby Tallarook, whose son Daniel, almost 5, has Down syndrome and enjoys monthly weekend visits with Chris and his wife Rowena through the local Interchange program, says: “We’re so lucky to have been matched with Chris. Daniel has two sisters at home (Sian, 7, and Ailish, 3) so he just loves going over to his house and having “boy time”, hanging out in the shed, and kicking the footy with Chris and Haiden. Every family could benefit from having positive people from outside of their family in their lives, like Chris (and Rowena).”

The Euroa Football and Netball Club loves Chris, too. 

“He’s the first to arrive and the last to leave,” says Euroa Secondary College Principal Michael Bell who is also on the club’s committee of management.  Team trainer to all three grades of football, Chris also drives the team bus to and from away games, and helps out at virtually every club function. All of his children have played for the club – the three in Australia still do – and Rowena has recently clocked up her 300th netball game!

 “He is just an all round legend, and everyone at the Club really appreciates him,” says Michael.

Recently starting a new job in the hardware section at the local supermarket, Chris has enjoyed a wide-ranging career, including 12 years in a local restaurant, six of those as a family affair, with the whole family involved.  A severe bout of viral meningitis seven years ago which knocked his health pushed him out of the kitchen and in the direction of the great outdoors. Since then he’s had a series of jobs in vineyards, building, most recently working with his oldest daughter’s fiancé, Guy, as a landscaper.

“He’s quite simply a great everyday dad doing extraordinary things,” says Barb Putamorsi, who has known Chris for years, and works for the local Interchange program that introduced Chris to Daniel.  “He’s got very special qualities, and is willing to share these with families outside of his own.”

The last word on the 2010 Father of the Year for Victoria belongs to Aimee, who in her nomination wrote:  “I consider myself very lucky to have a dad like mine; he is one of a kind! Not only is a model father but a model husband. I’m sure if there were a ‘husband of the year’ award, mum would nominate him, too!”
 
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