Former City of Springvale mayor Leon Trembath has been remembered as a passionate force of the environment.
Trembath, 83, a father of three, grandfather and retired firefighter, died after a long illness on 31 July.
He served as a Springvale councillor from 1975-’87, including as mayor in 1979-’80.
A recently published obituary described his “lifelong passion for the environment and conservation” as a “guiding force in his life”.
“His strength, thoughtful presence, and care for the natural world will be sadly missed.”
According to a story on Gippslandia website, Trembath penned a column on native plants for Dandenong Journal in the 1960s “well before the topic was popular”.
He also led the creation of a bed of native trees in Roth Hetherington Reserve. The trees were from each state in Australia
Aptly, the Leon Trembath Reserve at Corrigan Road, Noble Park bears his name.
Roz Blades, a long-time Springvale and Greater Dandenong mayor, was first elected onto council in 1987 -the year that Trembath’s tenure ended.
“Environmentally, he was very ahead of his time,” Blades says.
At council, he was a “wry debater” interested in holding council officers to account, as well as social justice and the environment.
“He was very interested in the environment, and made a very positive contribution.”
Blades had long been friends with Trembath’s first wife Noelle, who also served as a Springvale councillor.
Their son Mark Trembath continued the Springvale councillor dynasty.
In 1976, Trembath was quoted in the media when a scrub fire burnt out The Grange bushland reserve.
It consisted of the State’s last-known example of Cheltenham heath, and “there’s nothing left — not even a leaf,” Trembath said at the time.
Almost 100 native flower species grew in the reserve, he said.
Up until recent years, he had become a garlic grower, nestled in a bushland paradise in Madalya in the Strzelecki Ranges.
There, he and second wife Cathy lived in his self-built “off grid” home ‘Churinga’ made of reused materials. It was powered by his own hydro-electric turbine at a Jack River waterfall as well as solar panels.
A decade ago, the self-sufficient hydro scheme as well as his harvesting of native mountain pepper were featured on the ABC.
His funeral will be held at Yarram Cemetery on Monday 11 August.
