Former Kapooka Commandant, Vietnam veteran and Riverina Liberal candidate Colonel David Kibbey has died aged 74 on Christmas Eve after a battle with cancer.
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Colonel Kibbey was the commandant of the base outside Wagga, which included the Army Recruit Training Centre, from 1993 to 1994.
Originally from the Huon Valley in Tasmania, Colonel Kibbey had returned to Wagga after serving as an instructor at Kapooka prior to departing for Vietnam.
He met his wife Helen Kibbey, nee Rava, in Wagga during that time.
Mrs Kibbey said Colonel Kibbey "had certainly been a warrior" during his three-year fight against cancer.
"He loved his sport, loved his rugby and he played Australian Rules and he liked golf and tennis and all sorts of things," she said.
"We enjoyed catching up with extended family right across the Riverina; we had a big family reunion while we were there [in the 1990s]."
Colonel Kibbey's deputy commandant was Ian 'Blue' Mawson, who lives in Wagga.
"David was a Vietnam veteran, being part of the 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment," Mr Mawson said.
"When I first met him we clicked fairly well and he was a very strong commander but he was also very good with his soldiers and his people and he loved sport and he loved the Riverina."
Mr Mawson said Colonel Kibbey was very well regarded within defence and the community.
"He was very good with people from the generals high up to the soldiers ... if someone was doing what they shouldn't be doing they got a hard tongue but that was it, he didn't hold a grudge," he said.
Colonel Kibbey was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia Military Division in the 1995 Queen's Birthday Honours "for outstanding service" in command of Kapooka.
Colonel Kibbey ran as a Liberal candidate for Riverina in the 1998 federal election after the retirement of Nationals MP Noel Hicks.
"It was a busy time but he'd always had a passion for politics. He used to say 'there's no point thinking about it unless you have a go'," Mrs Kibbey said.
Mr Mawson served as Colonel Kibbey's campaign manager.
"David fought a worthy campaign but obviously we didn't win," Mr Mawson said.
After retiring from the army, Colonel Kibbey set up a security company in Canberra and he is survived by his wife Helen, three children Jane, George and Sam, and five grandchildren.
A service commemorating Colonel Kibbey's life will be held at St Christopher's Cathedral in Manuka, ACT at 1pm on January 4.
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