SPARK, Tobias Lloyd (Toby)

Tobe’s, It’s still unbelievable, even now, that we won’t see your face again. It feels so unfair, so deeply wrong that someone who brought so much life and laughter can be gone. You were the life of the party, Tobe’s you always made everyone feel welcome, always the first to light up the room. You were also a family man who adored his family and I just know you would be shattered that you’re not here with them.
I’ll never forget all the memories we share, so many moments where you made us laugh. I can see you up there now running about, causing mischief, being exactly who you were always meant to be.
You leave behind a gaping hole, especially for Cindy, the kids, all your family and friends. But even in grief, we will carry you with us, in our stories, in our laughter, when we remember your ways, your presence, your voice. We will honour you by doing our best to help the people you loved most by supporting them, being there for them, holding one another up.
You will be missed more than you know. Rest in peace for however long you need to, or party up there until we all see you again. Until then, your spirit lives on in every memory, in every gathering, every story we share in your name.
Love ya Tobe’s xx

Rest in peace brother. Such a good man. We know that Mont will be waiting for ya.
All our love to the Spark family – from the Harraz..

Jennie, Wayne (dec) Harra and little Kel

Toby, you started as a customer and quickly became a friend, you lit our place up every time you came in and made our place such a happy place. I will always miss your zest for life and your ability to make people smile
Rest in peace mate
Steve

Dear Cindy and all your beautiful family
We are so sorry for your terrible loss of Toby’ we are absolutely devastated that he’s gone, such a good bloke
He will be up there with he’s brother Monty and he’s great mate Matt running a muck
Toby’ will be missed by us all ☓

Love Graeme, Gel and all our family

Our thoughts are with Cindy & family and with Toby’s parents Maureen & Ian, and siblings Nathan & Rebecca.
Toby, you lit up a room with your smile & your antics. We are sure you will put a smile on Monty’s face when you meet him upstairs.!

Toby such sad news of your passing. A fantastic workmate always positive fun to be around just an absolute gun bloke. RIP Mate.

Such a great bloke. Hard to believe that we will never again see your smile and your oh so friendly welcome when we saw you. Even though you were our kids friend you always included us as if we were your age, a great mate to all ages. Such a huge loss to all who knew you Tobes. Our deepest condolences to Cindy, Bronte, Frankie and Joey and all of Toby’s family and friends. Toby will be greatly missed by all.

You will be sadly missed Toby.

Condolences to the family at this very sad time.

A great man gone to soon.

RIP mate.

To the dear spark family , we sending our condolences on the sad news of the passing of Toby xx 💔
May he be running a muck with monty and matty Giles!!
They called you home , but all of us wanted you to stay , your smile and greetings, brought a smile to everyone .
Rest in peace lovely man
Love Russell, Paula, Samuel and brodie Auger xx
A friend to so many and will never forget you xx

RIP toby Sending all my love to the family such sad news when Anthony let me know thinking of you all in this hard time Sending love and hugs to you all love Davina and family ❤️

Tobe’s, I send my thoughts and prayers to your beautiful family. I pray that you’re running an absolute muck up there specially having a few drinks watching down this weekends GF. It was a honour to call you my work mate and neighbour, I know our street will never be the same again. Unfortunately I’m still stuck working away to attend your celebration of life. I’ll find you and visit you with a bevo in hand. Rest in peace mate till we meet again.
Cheers Danny & family 🙏🏻🥃

Toby, you left a mark—not just on my life, but on everyone lucky enough to have known you. A friend that will be forever remembered and never forgotten. Sending our deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers to all the Spark family.

My heart is aching for you Maureen, Ian, Rebecca and Nathan.
Deepest condolences to Cindy and their beautiful children.
Remembering Monty♥️

Toby always thought that sport was the most important part of life. From an early age his ambition was to play cricket for Australia. He may not have achieved that ambition, but he influenced the lives of a lot of people for the better along the way.
On the day of his untimely death, he attended two grand final football matches. One at Yinnar, and another involving Churchill. I think he would have regarded this as going out on a high.
Toby’s distain for academic matters drove Maureen and I to distraction. Toby was so laid back that he often didn’t get around to submitting assignments on time – even the ones he had completed.
Toby was more interested in Cricket, Football, Golf and Rock Climbing. He was not afraid of heights – or anything else for that matter.
We were relieved when Toby found his niche at Gippsland Water, after a formative stint in the civil construction industry in Melbourne. Gippsland Water appreciated his hands-on ability to solve problems in the water quality area. Toby was very proud to receive an award for inventing a water sampling lance that greatly increased the accuracy of water sampling.
From an early age Toby only read the sport section of the newspaper. However, as he got older, he took much more interest in current affairs. He was good at handling difficult people. He would have made a great politician.
Toby’s character was such that he could absorb a lot of pressure without letting it show. No matter how much pressure he was under, it never affected his engaging personality or his judgement.
Toby was always the life of the party. Such was his confidence and charm.
He will be sorely missed by his family and wide circle of friends. They should console themselves that although unfairly cut short, Toby’s was a life well lived. I wish I could have taken his place.
Ian Spark

OMG Such a shock. I am so sorry for your family and you. You were a wonderful neighbour and we just can’t believe you are gone.

You were the first neighbour we met and have always been the life of the street. Carry on, Toby. We are so sorry to lose you. Love to your family. <3 <3 <3

A bloke that genuinely cared how others were going/doing and a bloke who always made me want to be better, always wanted to get more runs or wickets than Toby didn’t happen to often at all but was always interested in others success,always had a good laugh with him ,RIP Tobes 💪🍺🍺

Thank you for a life well lived. May your spark and lust for life and adventure forever live on.

We will all miss you Toby a great man and work mate
I’ll never forget you so much laughter and great comebacks

Jamie & Jacquie 🥃

Can’t believe Toby has passed, our condolences to family and close friends. Working with Toby was always going to be a good day, his cheeky smile and quick come backs. When attending training course and first thing you check that Toby’s name was on the list, it’s going to have a fun time. He was always out to help people in planned works and emergency repairs, his knowledge and skills were a cut above.
Sadly missed. Sorry we’re unable to attend
Nick A (Big Nick)

Toby, your presence at work will be deeply missed. You never hesitated to help, and your energy, enthusiasm, and infectious laughter brightened our day. You were so proud of your family and truly the life of every party.
Our thoughts are with your family during this difficult time.

Friendship is a priceless gift that cannot be bought or sold, but it’s value is far greater than a mountain made of gold.
For gold is cold and lifeless it can neither see nor hear and in time of trouble it is powerless to cheer.
Gold it has no ears to listen, no heart to understand, it cannot bring you comfort or reach out a helping hand. So when you ask God for a gift be thankful if he sends not diamonds, pearls or riches, but the love of real true friends.
True friends are very rare.
No truer words have been spoken you were an enigma our friend and we will cherish every moment we shared together never forgotten always loved.
The Smiths
Hipstrip, Mands, Shayz and Rubz
Our hearts are broken xx

I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Toby.

He was not only a valued colleague for 20 years but also a genuine friend whose warmth, humour, and dedication left a lasting impression on everyone who had the privilege of working with him.

Toby brought light and energy into every room, and his absence will be felt profoundly. Please accept my heartfelt condolences.

My thoughts are with his family, friends, and all of us who had the honour of knowing him.

May he rest in peace, and may we carry forward the kindness, fun & uplifting spirit he shared with us all.

I hope you held me in the regard I held you. A sounding board, often a different (and strong) opinion and a work ethic like few have. You made me better. God bless you in these next steps.

Our thoughts are with Cindy & family and Toby’s parents.
Toby, it’s hard to believe that you’ve gone, you’re a great person and a highly respected and loved team member.
You have demonstrated a strong work ethic and dedication to achieving team objectives, always willing to go the extra mile. Your high level of self-motivation drives initiatives forward and inspires others to perform their best.
You’ll be greatly missed and always be in our memory.
RIP
Muneeb Sunna

You will be sadly missed Toby. A great person with so much energy and drive.

Condolences to the family at this very sad time.

RIP mate.

Your energy, dedication and friendship will be sorely missed. Out heart goes out to Cindy and family. Will miss talking to you about the 10 projects on the go at once, plus the other 5 new ideas that you can’t wait to start. Rest in peace Toby.

Toby brother, what a bitter-sweet pill. Knowing you has been a joy, such sweet fun and cathartic to my soul, but passing so early in your life is bitter to take particularly with your young family yearning for so much more of your life.

I have so many memory moments of our times together:

The amount of times we were the last two left on the dance floor, just having a blast, in the early hours of an innocuous Thursday night down the Churchill Pub dancing to the Lemonheads or ‘Jump Around’ by House of Pain;

Down the Langa cricket clubrooms late after games, with the sleeps cradle taking screamers that were “too hot” or climbing around the upper edges of the clubhouse or out on Gaskin under lights with the bowling machine pointed up in the air trying to take catches on the other side of the ground or just generally talking rubbish, laughing and enjoying each other’s company;

When you were 15 and captain of the under 16s at Jeeralang CC Paul Van den Broeke and I were your coaches. We had been coached by the great club founder and legend Ian Gibson. Which meant we tried to include centre wicket practice every second week and would focus on some of the very basics of cricket that were not obvious to a cricketer who watched or played cricket: turning blind, who made calls, loud, clear calls, the only calls to be made – yes, no or wait, running the first run hard, backing up, full stretch turns, grounding bats. Failure to perform these in centre wicket practice could get 2 or 4 run all run penalties and failure to run them with intensity would get a further penalty. In the field it was walking in, listening to ends to throw to, backing up throws, calling catches, putting a leg behind the ball and failures on these fronts resulted in 10 pushups. It was the sort of thing that had everyone thinking and performing and gleeful when others were caught out and suffered punishment, but also reinforced with encouragement when things were done correctly and then pushed further. Everyone learnt when the instruction was focused on an individual. Toby loved this and excelled at it, but also helped enforce the standards with players and insist they give it their best when their heads dropped. Toby was a class above everyone else in the team, he was the obvious captain and the star bat. You had to retire at 50 and he did this regularly as the Jeeralang team in the TDCA competition struggled and rarely won.

I still remember taking the whole squad to Traralgon squeezed in the old Statesmen. You wrecked batting came off for rain and when it stopped and we went to go out you somehow had a branch trapping your helmet with a stick half way down your throat and the more we tried to extract you the further down your throat that branch went – you won a Download award for that. On the way home I made the mistake of buying everyone an ice cream as the day was hot;

The fierce competitiveness in us both was what always attracted us and I used to bemoan your talent that couldn’t see you play within yourself when you got your gander up while batting, but we ultimately loved egging each other on to greater heights of that I’m sure, though your good naturedness never matched my drive to get an edge through just over the line sledging;

Popping in to see you and Brad Toohey when you stayed at your Uncle Andy’s apartment in North Melbourne without heating or electricity and stumbling down the crumbling stairs calling out to you without answer as you didn’t have the energy to answer, snuggled into sleeping bags watching a dvd while the last wooden chair was sacrificed for heat;

Your many trips to London with Cindy where you would always catch up with Paula and I from sharing Chateaubriand on your honeymoon tour, to the walking through the Smeg fridge to meet the The Mayor Of Scaredy Cat Town speak easy and all those next levels.

My dear, dear mate. I love you. You’ve moved on to the next level before us and we miss you already. Save a seat for me and pop on Born Slippy before I walk through the door and we can laugh, chat and dance like we always have.

Still shocked to even be thinking he’s gone.
It’s felt like a lifetime ago since I’ve seen Toby and all the people from our High School years but the memories will forever be strong.
I’ve never listened to U2 without thinking of Tobes and the Jeeralang parties. Yinnar footy nights, southern comfort, and of course the Dees are iconic Toby memories.
Nath I know how incredibly hard it would have been for you to speak yesterday at his funeral yet you were so true to him and did a wonderful job.
I never saw Toby as a parent in person, only his immensely proud social media posts, but Frankie, your words and your personality made me see what a truely amazing Dad he was. His strength, humour and love for life will live on strong through you and your siblings, that’s easy to see from one very funny beautiful emotional speech.
Love to you all. The world has lost an amazing character who taught so many to live life hard but humbly.
RIP Tobes. You’ll forever be a legend everyone remembers and loves.

Fly high Legend and party hard up there with Mont! Xxxxxx