A keen fisherman, and "just a really good bloke".
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That is how Rodney Rowe is being remembered after he was tragically killed in a head-on crash at Carrick last week.
The 63-year-old will be farewelled by his family and friends at a funeral on Monday.
His brother, Peter Rowe, described the retired pensioner as a loyal man who was always willing to help out a mate.
"If you asked him 'hey can you come help me with this', he would be there," Mr Rowe said.
"He was just easy to get on with, very casual."
Having travelled down from the Gold Coast after the tragedy, Mr Rowe recalled the last time he visited Rodney in Tasmania.
"It would have been about two months ago, and I remember we went to the Exeter Bakery for some lunch, we love their pies," he said.
"I would have spoken to him on the phone since, we didn't speak every day, but you knew when you rang him he'd be around."
Growing up in Deloraine, Mr Rowe said his older brother loved fly fishing, gardening, and garage sales.
"He just loved his garage sales, he would say 'look Pete I bought this drill bit' or 'I bought this mower for only 5 bucks'."
When it came to his fishing, Rodney loved to get away and head up the lakes, or check out the local rivers.
He shared a passion for being out by the water with his father, who was killed in a tragic tree felling incident when Rodney was about 14.
"Dad was a real keen fly fisherman and Rodney was the same," Mr Rowe said.
"He liked collecting models of trucks, because Dad was a truck driver, and loved his gardening like Dad."
Throughout his career Rodney worked at the saw mill in Deloraine and for Comalco at Bell Bay.
"He was really well known in the Deloraine area."
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While he didn't have any children of his own, Mr Rowe said Rodney was a beloved uncle and great-uncle.
"I have three kids and five grandkids and he loved them to death, he always loved them coming to visit," Mr Rowe said.
"Probably because he never had any of his own, he basically adopted mine."
In a tribute to his love of fishing, the family has had his coffin wrapped with an image of a man catching a trout.
Rodney will be farewelled at Deloraine Bowls Club.
He is survived by his brother Peter, sister Elizabeth, mother Win, and partner Annie.
The crash on the Bass Highway not only claimed Rodney's life, but the life of 65-year-old Newnham man Shane Williamson.
The driver of the other vehicle, who crossed onto the wrong side of the road and into the path of Rodney and Shane, also died.
His name has not been publicly released.
Two children were taken to the Launceston General Hospital in a critical condition.
They were later transferred to the Royal Hobart Hospital where they remain in a stable condition.
