Not much happened in Wagga that did not involve Laurence Fromholtz.
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Mr Fromholtz was born in Leeton, on March 4, 1929. After living most of his life in Wagga, he died on Wednesday from a series of medical complications.
Council's civil engineer for many years, 'Laurie' left his signature all over the city. But he combined his superior skills in mathematics with equal literary talent, as fellow Wagga Rotarian, Terry Mecham recalls.
"His greatest gift was his literature. He was a clever writer, he'd often write plays and scripts for Rotary shows. It was his forte. He was about the only bloke I knew who had read all of Shakespeare's plays," Mr Mecham said.
That hobby led the former engineer to author a book, The Sobraon Wonder, in 1991, about the life of champion swimmer Bernard Bede Kieran.
He managed to write the book while suffering from deteriorating eyesight associated with macular degeneration.
"It did not deter him from living, though it made life much harder. Stories still needed to be written and projects needed to be pursued, it just [grew to ]involve the help of his family and friends," said his daughter, Michelle Fromholtz.
"He always had another project 'on the go' and never flagged in commitment or energy to any of them. Even when he celebrated his 90th birthday this year, he was still formulating the next projects."
The eldest of six children, Mr Fromholtz grew up at a farm near Oura. He lived through the Second World War and served as an army cadet, though he was too young to enlist.
His first job as an adult was as a cadet engineer in Lockhart. That was where he also met his wife of 67 years, Pat, who happened to be working in the town as a teacher.
Together, they moved to Cowra, where he took up the position of deputy engineer.
"While they were in Cowra, they had five of us children. Four girls and a boy, all born between 1952 and 1958," Ms Fromholtz said.
The family returned to Wagga in 1952, when Mr Fromholtz became the design engineer at Wagga City Council.
He worked as deputy engineer to Colin Knott, before then succeeding his mentor by becoming the director of technical services.
He was involved in designing Eunony Bridge and Wiradjuri Bridge, as well as the construction of the airport, and, his daughter believes, was the man responsible for "bringing roundabouts to Wagga".
"He was a man who taught by example, had high values and principles, and doted on both his grandchildren and great-grandchildren - he had 12 of each. He would do anything for his family."