Quality Wool's Mid North advisor Simon Seppelt has been remembered as a great bloke with a love of life and his family, who was always ready to lend a hand.
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It follows the 53-year-old's tragic passing on January 20 in the Royal Adelaide Hospital about a week after falling on rocks while fishing at Wallaroo.
After an upbringing in the Barossa, Simon's first jobs were worked on pastoral properties, as well as a shearer and wool classer, but for the past two decades he had taken great pride in working for Quality Wool.
Company managing director Mark Dyson says the respect was mutual with Simon's strong work ethic and ability to relate to people of all ages quickly seeing him become a big part of the Quality Wool family.
Mark remembers it was Glen Forbes who first came across Simon in early 2005, during a shearing visit to Martins Well Station in the Flinders Ranges, which was owned by the Fargher family. Glen moved to ensure Simon was offered a job in the growing business.
"(Glen) rang me and said he had come across a good young fella who was classing there," he said.
Within a couple of months, Simon was a Quality Wool employee and had settled with his family in Jamestown. He quickly grew a clientele in the Barossa, Mid and Upper North and western NSW but had clients as far afield as Ceduna.
Mark said it was all the one percenters that made Simon a "cornerstone of the Quality Wool business".
"He wouldn't just rock up to a shed and demand the wool he took the time to work in with everyone in the shed and yards as well as the grower," he said.
Mark says if a grower rang up and said they were shearing on a Saturday morning, Simon would make it to the shed. He also involved himself in all facets of getting the wool into the bale, from helping out in the yards to roustabouting to classing sheep.
"I have heard clients say that they felt like they were Simon's only clients - that is a touch of class," Mark said.
Mark said Simon was also highly respected among his work colleagues, often taking the time to ring someone if he knew they were having a bad day.
"He genuinely cared about people's welfare," he said.
"It was nothing for him to bring a dozen eggs down for the guys in the wool store so they knew someone was thinking about them and I have been amazed to learn how many staff he was in regular contact with."
Among Simon's many clients were John and Ali Allison, Yalcowinna Station, 50 kilometres north of Broken Hill, NSW, who say Simon treated their wool clip as if it was his own.
"Because he had worked on pastoral properties and been a crutcher and shearer, he really had a good understanding of pastoral people and what they were going through in droughts and the good times," he said.
"He wasn't just our wool broker he classed our young ewes and then selected all our rams - his passion for the wool industry was second to none."
Ali says Simon was a caring, passionate and enthusiastic individual who will be greatly missed.
"There are not too many people you meet who are the same every time you see them but Simon was always great company and had a great love for life, which was really special," she said.
Simon rolled his sleeves up for many community organisations, including the Jamestown AH&F Society, where he was a life member.
Show president James Moore says Simon was always willing to lend a hand, from his involvement in the wool handling to commentating at the shearing competition during the annual two-day show.
He was on the committee from 2001 to 2014, including four years as president during that time, and then on the sheep and wool committee from 2019 to 2022.
"You mention his name from Wilcannia to Ceduna and everyone knew Simon Seppelt from Quality Wool - he was one of those blokes that everyone liked and he never had a bad word to say about anyone," James said.
"Nothing was too much trouble for him, he was always there for setting up and packing up and during the show, even when he wasn't on the committee he was only a phone call away."
Simon was also an active member of the Elsewhere Clay Target Club at Jamestown, where he had been club treasurer for the past five years.
Club president Rodney Hammat says Simon was a "great bloke", who would make everyone feel welcome - especially any visitors to the club. He always had time to help the young ones.
"He wasn't the best shot but he didn't let it get him down and just tried harder. In the last six months he started getting a lot better and even winning a few prizes," he said.
Simon is survived by his wife Jo and children George and Molly.
- Simon's funeral will be held on Friday, February 2 at St James Catholic Church in Jamestown at 1.30pm.
