Bradley Stewart Lyle Potts was born on the 14th of October 1968 on a Monday at 5:45 am in Stanistreet House at the Bendigo Base Hospital; he arrived, the healthy and happy fifth child to Annette and Lyle Potts. From the very beginning Brad was a contented and peaceful soul and throughout his lifetime remained that way. The family moved from Bendigo to Moe not too long after Brad’s birth, in April of 1969. As a result of his dad’s evangelical outreach activities and the earliest expressions of the Moe New Life Centre, very soon Barrie and Lynn Ryan began attending Bible studies. Danny Ryan was born in the August of that year he has remained Brad’s dearest and best friend for his whole life. By 1971 the family moved into the house at Linton Avenue, the house became known to most people as the Centre as many of the church activities were focussed on that location. As a result, Brad formed more friendships with kids of his age-group, many of whom remained close to him to this day. As a kid, Bradley was outgoing, friendly and generous, he made friends easily and enjoyed his school days and especially sports. He started an early love affair with Aussie Rules football, coming home from South Street Primary School one night filled with excitement to tell his parents he had just joined a local footy team. As he began to share the details, it became apparent to them that he had, in fact, just signed up with the local Roman Catholic school team, St. Kierens. His dad declared that Brad’s signup with St. Kierens’ footy team could be chalked up to “ecumenical outreach”. Brad’s cheerfulness, friendliness and openness, whether at school, church or home meant that he ended up forging many lifelong friendships, they remain to this day as testament to his character and personality. Brad remained at South Street Primary School until his family moved to Canberra in 1978. There he attended a couple of schools in the Kaleen area until eventually being enrolled with his brother Aaron at the O’Connor Christian School. He excelled in all areas of school life, social, sport and academics, ultimately being elected School Captain. One of his former school friends, Deborah Steer wrote the following tribute on his FaceBook wall: “Dearest Brad, It may have been 20 yrs since we saw each other face to face but the opportunity to reconnect over the past 5 years even just by phone/Facebook rekindled the memories I have of you as a friend from school who had the ability to impact people's lives. I remember the day you and Aaron started at O’Connor ,as one of the pioneering families in the humble beginnings of that little Parish School. I recognised straight away the natural leadership qualities and charisma that drew all students and teachers alike. It's not surprising you were voted the first school captain, your popularity was undeniable. I have to admit that with all of those traits, you stole a little bit of this, then 14 yr olds heart. You had an impact on me as a loyal friend, neighbour and even fellow Libran as we almost shared the same birthdates. You being Oct 14, and me the 15th. I have memories of just observing you as you walked the school premises leaving in your wake a ripple of smiles as you always had something friendly and personal for any individual that was in your path. The preppies adored you, the juniors looked up to you, the seniors wanted to be you and the teachers admired you. As for all the teenage girls! Well, I have to giggle as I remember them sitting along the logs that circumferenced our school oval. There, we would all watch you play footy with your mates, waiting to find out, which girl would be granted the honour of wearing your beloved Hawks Scarf for the day! Another memory so clear in my mind, was watching you lead school assembly, and always thinking, 'Wow, I hope I still know this boy, when he is a man'. Such small things, that remain so big in my heart, all these years later. I am so grateful that we had a chance to reconnect in the recent years. Our lives took such different routes, some not so easy either. But in our most recent chat I recall, a discussion about the cold in Victoria and I tried to entice you to our sunny beaches of The Gold Coast, your reply was 'Deb, I'd take the warm over the cold, any day but my family and friends are worth more to me than my comfort'. Bradley, that sums up, what I loved most about you. Your fierce loyalty and commitment to those you loved. Your family, your friends and yes, even your Hawks! You were a man of integrity and worthy of honour and I am proud to celebrate you today. What a privilege it was to have you touch just a portion of my life from way back. My prayers and blessings go out to those that were precious to you as they have to say goodbye to you for just a little while. I'll be seeing you one day again my friend, that smile, and those eyebrows!!! Love, Debbie Steer (Button)”. While attending O’Connor Christian School, Brad travelled to Sydney at one time in order to participate in a weeklong school sponsored support programme with some of Sydney’s homeless population. The effect of that experience on him was immediate and profound, he came home to Canberra with an ignited zeal to live a life that would benefit others, help to change the world into a better place and put his personal values into action. It was as a result of this event that the Scripture verse that he loved appears on your Order of Service today, in particular the words, “...but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has already laid hold of me.” Another key event during Brad’s time at O’Connor Christian School were the words of praise and encouragement spoken to him by his Technical Drawing teacher; his teacher told him that he demonstrated a unique and natural flair for the discipline, and encouraged and inspired him to give serious thought about pursuing an education and career in the field of drafting, design and engineering. As result Bradley leaves behind today a diverse legacy of structures around Australia that first began in his imagination passing through his pens and computer cursor to ultimately be constructed and be buildings used as homes and places of work for generations to come. In 1985, Brad moved with the family to Tasmania, and at 16 years of age started his first job in Burnie, working as a trainee draftsman; his first years were spent learning the draftsman’s skills for drawing with intricate accuracy, understanding perspective, along with the myriad of other skills needed, all on a draftsman’s drawing board. It wasn’t until sometime later with the development and advancement of Computer Aided Design, (CAD) that Brad moved to that form of drawing that he became passionate about and known for. It was in the earliest years CAD that Bradley attended and demonstrated the system at a Home Building exhibition held in the Burnie Town Hall. On one particular day of the exhibition a young man, fourteen years of age hovered around the exhibit for almost the whole day, showing a fascination and keen interest in the system Bradley was demonstrating. He was full of questions and Brad was happy to answer them, in fact, Bradley was so impressed with the young man that he arranged for him to do a week of work experience with the business Bradley was working for. As a result that young man ended up following Brad into a career of drafting and drawing, his name, Tony Keegan, and he remains one of Brad’s closest friends to this day. While living in Tasmania Bradley played football for local clubs, he served as a reservist in the Australian Army and continued to grow in grace and love. During the Canberra and Burnie years of his life, an enduring and lifelong bond was being forged between Brad and his younger brother Aaron. Whether the love for cricket, football or music they shared not only a bedroom but they shared thoughts, love and experiences. Their relationship remains an beautiful example to our family of the intimacy and respect two siblings can have for each other from childhood into their adult life, and we are thankful to them both for the privilege given to us all of watching and participating in that friendship. Bradley moved to Moe in 1997, following brother Aaron and his wife Narelle and family who had moved there the previous year. He worked for a number of businesses in the building industry throughout his years in Gippsland all the while turning work colleagues and associates into good friends, not the least of whom was his current employer and friend, Cal Board. Bradley married Virginia Leak in 2003 and shared 10 years with her family of four children, Hannah, Levi, Delilah and Kohem. Although life had presented him it’s trials and tests, as it does us all, Brad had said to some of his brothers that these last six to twelve months, he found himself in one of the happiest and most content places. He had rekindled an interest in flight simulation, his love of music and playing music was as fervent as ever, he continued to be fascinated by faith, spirituality and philosophy; by thoughtful and innovative architecture and engineering as well as a whole host of other interests. There is no doubt, as is evidenced here today that Brad’s one great love was his family, from his Mum and Dad through to his youngest great-niece or nephew. He befriended people from every station in life, without judgment or hesitation, always willing to throw in whomever might have needed some help. The thesaurus is brimming with adjectives that that we could use to describe Bradley, just a few would be, loyal, respectful, humourous, warm, engaging, kind-hearted, generous, patient and non-judgmental; all of them true and none of them overstated. We will forever be sorry to have lost this most precious of people from our lives and forever be thankful for the privilege of having him as a part of our lives, son, brother, cousin, our Uncle Brad.