John Mark Hoath - known as Jack - was born 25th June 1919 in Walgett NSW, the 5 child (of 11 children) to Mark Hoath (1881-1936) and Margaret (nee Sloane) (c1888-1964). He had 8 sisters and 2 brothers – Mary (Molly), Marie, Florence (Possy), Valerie, Irene, Percy (Ned), William (Bill), Patricia, Lorna, and Daphne. Jack served in the second world war enlisting on 17 June 1941 in Dirranbandi, he was a Private in the 2nd/10th Infantry Battalion. On his return, he worked as a drover in the Dirranbandi area. He married Enid Johnstone in 1954 at St George. They had six children, their first child, Daphne (Dolly) was born in 1955 in Dirranbandi, and they lived on the road wherever the droving took them. They bought a home in Church Street Dirranbandi in 1956, the year their second child John/Pussy (decd.) was born, and they had four more children; Edward/George (decd.), Marianne, Peter, and Ian (Mick). As at October 2023, Enid still lives in the Church Street home. Jack, also known as “The Bushman”, knew the area around Dirranbandi better than most; on horseback in the bush, he was instrumental in locating a lost child who had walked several miles up the river from Dirranbandi, with people searching part of the night and all day. In the early 1980’s he also found an elderly man who went missing late at night, again on horseback he located the man on the ‘common’.

 Jack passed away on the 8 September 1998 in Dirranbandi. His eldest son John ‘Pussy’ is resting beside him, his second son Edward ‘George’ rests in Jandowae. Jack’s parents, along with his sisters Molly, Valerie, Irene, and his brothers Bill and Ned are resting in Walgett Cemetery while Marie is in Newcastle and Patricia in Inverell. Information shared by Jack’s wife Enid, April 2023.