A very fine Rotarian, Geoff Basser, died peacefully on 1st January aged 95. He leaves his wife Nanette, four children and nine grandchildren.

Geoff was born in Lithgow where he joined Apex at the age of 18 and remained there from 1947 to 1969. He said Apex “gave me the basis of what I became as a man”. He was an original member and past president of the Lithgow Rotary Club.

Mr Durie, who succeeded Geoff as President of the Lithgow Club has always been particularly impressed by Geoff’s entrepreneurial approach to his voluntary community work: “It was he who named the Lithgow “Festival of the Valley” and it was he who convinced the Rotary Club of Lindfield that it should conduct a Fun Run for the citizens of Lindfield , including children, to raise funds and also persuaded a local newspaper to support it financially”.

Geoff was a Apex District Governor in Central West and Blue Mountains and later again for Apex in Sydney and Inner Suburbs.

He went to Sydney in 1970. He helped set-up the Kur–ring-gai Youth Development Service (KYDS) in 2004. Geoffrey inaugurated the annual Lindfield Fun Run; which continues today raising funds for KYDS. The success of KYDS inspired his creation of jupiter – a space to talk under the registered charity Caring for Our Port Stephens Youth (COPSY) in 2015. Both jupiter and KYDS services provide free services to youth and were amalgamated in November 2024.

In 2003 he moved to Port Stephens where he was an active member of Nelson Bay and then Salamander Bay Rotary Clubs, where he again worked tirelessly to extend the reach of Rotary participating in many local community projects and cooking many more than one sausage in his day! Unlike many he understood one sausage sale was one more polio vaccine.

Geoff worked tirelessly to get support and community engagement for COPSY with every man, women and child that would listen to him. It was hard: “When our lights faded, he would ignite the passion once again, and he just didn’t take no for an answer. That’s just the kind of legend he was” (Julie Agnew, a founding member of COPSY).

In 1989 he awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship

In 2017 he was awarded the Port Stephens medal by Port Stephens Council in recognition of his service to the community and in 2021 the Commonwealth awarded him the Order of Australia Medal for his achievements.

In 2021 he joined the E-Club Serving Humanity; which adopted COPSY’s youth charity as a Rotary project. This project was his passion in the last years of his life. Under the banner of jupiter – a space to talk it serves the youth of Port Stephens aged 12 to 25.

“Geoff was a force of nature who leaves a lasting legacy on our community and the lives of many” (Kate Washington, the State Member for Port Stephens).