Dion
Posted Aug 18th, 2008 • Category: Featured Vendor Profiles • By Anna O'Brien
On 7 August, Adelaide vendor Dion passed away. He will be greatly missed by his family, support workers and customers, who would stop for a magazine and a chat about his beloved Adelaide Crows at the Port Canal shopping centre. Born with spina bifida, Dion was a John Farnham fan who loved life and meeting new people.
Dion’s mum, Jenny, thanks everyone at the Port for making his life special. “He loved the Port: rain, wind or shine he’d eagerly get ready to go to work. He fought hard and long (doctors present at his birth gave him less than a 4% chance of survival).
He enjoyed life.” Mayor of Port Adelaide, Gary Johanson, remembers Dion as “the sort of person that made and continues to make the Port so unique”.
Please share your thoughts and comments with us below.
Anna O'Brien - Coordinates the website for The Big Issue.
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Dion was just a wonderful character of Port Adelaide. He was very much a one-eyed Crows supporter and you would often find Dion dressed in his beloved Crows colours sitting outside the Port Canal shopping precinct. He loved to give Port Adelaide a well-deserved serve!
His cheeky disposition was a joy to have around. He loved to share a joke with us and was always in raptures if we delivered a ‘funny’ during the day. Mind you, he would quickly tell us if he thought the joke was below par!
I remember taking Dion for a walk, or should I say push, in his wheelchair to the local TAB to place a bet (or two) on the Melbourne Cup. He then declared that I was the worst driver he had ever been with!
We will miss his text messages – whether it be asking for ‘books’ (The Big Issue) or simply asking how our day was going, we knew he was about!
Dion, our little mate, you will be missed by the people of Port Adelaide. UCWPA sends much sympathy to his mother Jenny and his family.
Dion will always be remembered for his wicked sense of humour and ready smile for anyone who took a moment to stop and say hello. Dion’s approach to engaging other people in life was an inspiration to many.
At least Dion rests in the knowledge that his beloved Crows were winners the weekend before he left. I will very much miss exchanging mischievous text messages about footy tips on weekends from now on.
It was very sad to hear of the sudden passing of Dion, one of Port Adelaide’s legends. Dion was the sort of person that made and continues to make the Port so unique; a person that could laugh at life and the circumstances in which he was forced to live. I consider that Dion was one of the richest people in the Port: rich in character, rich in enthusiasm and rich in wit.
One of my greatest concerns was that one day Dion may have run against me for the position of Mayor; I am sure he would have won easily. May Dion’s legacy of fun and friendship continue to grace the Port for years to come.
Dion’s smile, his gentle innocent side and his rough, succinct and clear opinions on some matters, like football, quickly rush to my mind when I think of him. He’ll be sorely missed by staff and vendors of The Big Issue. We first met Dion in August 2003, when he signed up to sell the magazine after hearing about it from the Spina Bifida Association. He took to it like a duck to water and has spent thousands and thousands of hours chatting with locals and passers-by, and selling a few thousand magazines too, at Dale Street, Port Adelaide. We followed his journeys in and out of hospital. Despite the challenges (which he faced, fought and heckled) in getting out into the world, he did so just about every day and was exceptional by any standard. He was treasured, respected and a big part of other people’s lives.
At future vendor events we will miss his smile, innocence and cutting humour, and we’ll remember the values he lived by and the hard, bumpy road on which he lived. Our hats, beanies and caps off to you, Dion!
I met Dion when I first started work with UCWPA and he was a delight to be around. He saw me during my pregnancy and didn’t hold back on the comments about how big my belly was getting and was so happy for me and my family and soon told me about his soon to be born niece Kirra. He was so excited to be an uncle.
When I left UCWPA in May 2008 Dion and I went for coffee and I was reminded how much he just enjoyed life and made the most of whatever life presented. He was one of the most optimistic people I have ever met and I truly feel that my life has been changed (for the better) having had the wonderful opportunity to know and befriend Dion. Whenever I have a difficult day I will always have his optimism and his words going through my mind and I will feel at ease that things will be okay. He gave me so much and I am extremely grateful. My thoughts are with his family. I miss you Dion but your memory will be with me forever.
Will miss Dion near the entrance to the shopping centre, he was always able to have a friendly chat, sometimes I would buy an issue from him and give him a note which he couldn’t change. I remember asking him once how many have you sold today, surely you have change? He said “your the first sale today” and as I remember it was well into the day. He used to say sometimes it’s pretty slow, he had persistance and was a really nice bloke. I’m sad.