Kokoda victim wanted to 'enrich lives of others'

By CAROLYN WEBB

The Age, Australia
September 2, 2009

The memorial service for firefighter Matthew Leonard at the Victoria Police Academy. Photo: Paul Rovere

HE WAS a happy and outgoing young man with a dazzling smile. Kokoda plane crash victim Matthew Leonard also had a generous heart, mourners heard yesterday.

More than 400 people packed the Victoria Police Academy Chapel in Glen Waverley for a memorial service for the 28-year-old, who died with 12 others on August 11 in Papua New Guinea.

Jamie Hansen, a director of AFIRE, an overseas aid charity, read a letter from the Cambodian Government paying tribute to Mr Leonard's voluntary work training Cambodian firefighters in Phnom Penh in March.

Mr Hansen said: ''He didn't come because he had to, he didn't come for any kudos, but because he wanted to help those less fortunate … Matt accepted every challenge that came his way with strength, conviction, passion and, most memorably, a smile.''

Mr Hansen said a Cambodian firefighter had taken Mr Leonard to visit his poor, ailing grandmother, and Mr Leonard had paid for her medication.

Malvern station officer Steve Davey said that after tasting a coffee that Mr Leonard had made, and learning he had been to a "top gun" barista school, he had told colleagues "we're keeping this bloke".

Another Malvern station officer Paul Illman said Mr Leonard was ''community minded'' and had volunteered to help with TEENS, an MFB program to combat the teenage road toll.

''Very easy to get along with and always sensitive to others who may need his assistance,'' Mr Illman said. ''He was a well-regarded, well-respected member of the Melbourne fire brigade who had a promising career ahead of him.''

Mr Leonard died as he was starting as a part-time tour guide on the Kokoda Track.

No Roads Expeditions managing director Peter Miller said Mr Leonard had the empathy and passion needed to convey to trekkers the story of World War II soldiers on the track.

He said Mr Leonard's youth and devotion to Kokoda reminded him of Damien Parer, the Australian cameraman who won an Oscar for his 1942 documentary Kokoda Frontline!

Mr Leonard's father, senior West Australian policeman Bill Leonard, said his son had natural talent in many areas of life "but he also put in the hard yards". ''His motto was, 'You will never work a day in your life if you are doing something you love'.''

Mr Leonard's mentor, South Melbourne firefighter Daniel Gunn, said Mr Leonard was confident and self-assured, compassionate and humble. Referring to Kokoda he said, "You died on a journey, not just to enrich your own life, but to enrich the lives of others. That says a lot."

About 100 MFB staff formed a guard of honour at the end of the service.