TOP SIRE 2026–2027 VALE Joseph “Joe” Marius Johannes van Eyk NSW SMBA wishes to acknowledge Joseph “Joe” Marius Johannes van Eyk’s contribution to the Merino industry For all 47 of his short years, Joe was passionate about farming, extremely hard working, loved his family fiercely and was an all-round great bloke. The only son of Maurice and Faye van Eyk (both deceased), Joe was born near Taura, New Zealand, at home. As the story was told by Maurice, when Faye went into labour Maurice told her she would have plenty of time and they would head into the hospital once he had finished the morning milking (of more than 200 cows in an old Herringbone dairy!). Joe had other plans however and was delivered safely by the time Maurice returned to the house. At the age of three, Joe came to Australia when his parents decided to move to “Wirchillaba” a 20,000-acre cropping farm in western New South Wales, which was also Joe’s first introduction to Merinos. From the stories Joe told, the property was vast, covered in sections by Cypress pine, scattered with feral pigs and goats and was not the most reliable cropping country. It was pretty good for sheep though and usually ran more than a few thousand Merino ewes. The van Eyk family had barely found their feet in this new environment when, sadly, Faye passed away only months after their move to Australia, leaving Maurice as a single dad in a remote area. Joe had some wild tales from growing up in the western district – how he would drive the semi-trailer with grain bins at harvest well before he was tall enough to reach the pedals properly, walking home in the dark after a vehicle break down, listening to the feral pigs circling to sleeping on the floor of the Fergie tractor while Maurice was sowing and getting lost and shooting a feral goat to roast over a camp fire. Not the biggest fan of school at Nymagee, or the long trip to get there, Joe would sometimes “miss” the bus by hiding with his peewee 50 motorbike in a crop or stand of trees while the poor bus driver waited patiently for him to show Joe was born at home on the farm on 2 February 1978 and died at home on the farm on 10 August 2025. Photo caption. Joe van Eyk with his Supreme Exhibit of the 2012 Sydney Royal Easter Show. – 62 –
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI3ODI1