Members of the Willaura township have paid their respects after the passing of an active football and farming community member.
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James Haslett passed away earlier in September at the age of 75. He was the loving husband to Denise for 53 years, with five children and 11 grandchildren as part of his closest family.
Mr Haslett grew up around central Victoria before moving to, and settling in, Western Victoria later in life.
Family members and those close to Mr Haslett paid their respects in September.
According to the family, Mr Haslett lived his life to his morals of always being honest and treating others as you would like them to treat you.
"Thank your for your time with us," they said.
EARLY LIFE
Haslett was born in Kilmore on November 13, 1945 and was one of five children born to Alexander and Margaret Haslett.
He was always around farming, even from a young age with his family living at Darraweit Gum for four years before the family moved to a farm at Romsey.
By the time Mr Haslett was in high school, his favourite subject was sport and he had a keen interest in the boy scouts.
He always wanted to be a farmer, and after leaving school, returned home to work on the farm.
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Mr Haslett used to work for several different farmers in the district, one of them running a Dorset Ram Stud farm where he loved looking after the stud rams.
FOOTBALL
Another of Mr Haslett's passions was football which he discovered when he was 16-years-old and started playing football with the Lancefield Footy Club. This was where he won his first premiership.
He followed this by then asking for a clearance back to Romsey for the next year.
By the time he started playing again with Romsey, he was just 17 when he encountered an umpire who happened to be a talent scout for the Richmond Football Club.
He invited Mr Haslett to a Richmond training session. The Richmond President called his father and made an offer, which was declined.
He was also approached to play with Kyneton in the Bendigo Football League, but this did not happen either.
In 1968, whilst still playing football for Romsey, Mr Haslett won another premiership.
FAMILY
Soon after, Mr Haslett met a lovely young woman called Denise Colwell. He was introduced to her by Denise's sister who worked with her.
According to the story, Mr Haslett's intention upon meeting Denise was to ask her out to a dance and limit their time together to only one date.
That planned changed, and they happily dated for five years before eventually marrying in Woodend only three days after Christmas in 1968.
WILLAURA
The first of his two children were born in Romsey before moving to Willaura in 1974.
Mr Haslett tried playing cricket for a while after moving to Willaura, but his passion was football and he was to play in another premiership team when Willaura beat Tatyoon in 1975.
The ruckman wore number 24 for the Saints and was proud of his achievements with the football club.
When playing was no longer an option, he still enjoyed footy, but in a different role.
It was at this time that Mr Haslett was a member of many local committees and took on a selectors role for the Willaura Football Club, as well as a junior football volunteer.
Mr Haslett and his family settled smoothly in Willaura with his sport, farming and animals taking up the space in most of his heart.
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Mr Haslett worked as a shearer for some time, which supplemented his income as a farmer. His best day's shearing tally was a total of 235, which he was proud of.
Another passion of his was growing crops, during which he spent many hours with agronomists, listening to their advice and at the same time challenging their knowledge to gain insight in how to grow more productive crops with higher yields.
Mr Haslett also had a big soft spot for Molly (who actually belonged to Bradley), Tessie and lastly and most recently, Jaffa, his working dogs.
His children remember him telling them they weren't pets as they were there to work, but he didn't follow his own rules and developed a soft spot.
One of Mr Haslett's many farming passions was his beloved rams. The family joked that on cold nights he would want to bring his dearly loved rams inside, out of the cold and if this meant Nana couldn't fit in the bedroom too, then so be it!
Of course, this never happened.
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