THE last man to deliver mail on horseback around the Manning Valley has died.
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Thomas Adrian 'Tom' White was farewelled at a requiem mass on October 11.
Born in 1935, the middle child of Jack and Hilda White, dairy farmers of Moto and Lansdowne, Tom was pre-deceased by older brothers John and Raymond.
Younger siblings Margaret (Bos) and Paul survive him.
His first career ambition of joining the radio industry was put on hold by a call to army National Service, or, what he called the 'Ingleburn campaign'.
After his three month call-up, Tom remained in the Citizen Military Force (CMF) as a part time soldier while heading back to run the family properties.
He liked to say he was employed for "ten bob a week digging Scotch thistles with half (the proceeds of) the pigs and calves".
For extra spending money, he obtained a commercial fishing licence for Ghinni Creek and took on mail deliveries for Moto.
This he did on a horse named Tommy before graduating to a motorbike.
Years later, after selling the dairy quota, he went back to the postal game for two decades as the Moto Mailman, covering a wide spread of the Lower Manning area.
An avid walker, reader and traveller, Tom loved horse racing and his best performers, Quiet Ways and Heavenly Coin, provided plenty of thrills on the turf.
After his father died in 1973, Tom cared for his mother on the farm before she moved to Wingham Court, and he took up residence in Taree.
He remained in the Plover Street unit during retirement before spending his final months in Bushland Place.
While he never married, Tom enjoyed life to the full with his family and a huge circle of friends.
Tom was laid to rest in the Dawson River lawn cemetery, just a few steps away from his much loved mum and dad.