'When a Library Burns'

Remembering Doug Cutmore

 

Story: Grace Cutmore  |  Photos: Supplied    |  Published: April 2026

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There is an African proverb that says, "When an old person dies, a library burns to the ground." If that is true, then Warwick lost one of its great libraries on 3 March 2026, when Douglas Charles Cutmore OAM passed away at the age of 89.

Born in Warwick in 1936, Doug grew up on the land, the eldest of five children, shaped by the rhythms of farm life, drought, and the kind of quiet resilience that defined his generation. He went on to build a life centred on two things above all else: his family, of whom he was immensely and openly proud, and the community he called home. He gave generously to both for nine decades.

To list Doug's contributions is to read like a directory of Warwick itself. He served 20 years across Warwick City and Warwick Shire Councils, including 14 years as Deputy Mayor. He was a Director of the Warwick Friendly Society for over 30 years, and a member for 68 years since joining with Iris in 1958. He chaired the Warwick Benevolent Society (Akooramak) for two decades, serving on its board for more than thirty years. He was Master of the Cunningham Masonic Lodge three times. He was Chieftain of the Warwick Caledonian Society for 10 years. And for well over half a century, the Warwick Thistle Pipe Band was as much a part of Doug as the pipes themselves, having served as Drum Sergeant, Pipe Major, secretary, treasurer and President before being awarded Life Membership in 2015.

That's before you count the Apex Club, Meals on Wheels, the Road Safety Group, Crime Stoppers, the Neighbourhood Watch, the Warwick West State School P&C, Community Options, and a dozen other organisations that benefited from his steady hand and his willingness to simply turn up and do the work. In 2019, that lifetime of service was recognised with an Order of Australia Medal.

Any attempt to summarise a life as fully lived as Doug's will inevitably fall short. Behind every line of this account are countless stories untold, of quiet favours done, of people guided, steadied, or simply shown up for. Across the organisations and institutions he served, Doug contributed an estimated 350 combined years of service to the Warwick community. The figure is almost beside the point, but it gives some shape to what those who knew him already understood: that Doug didn't just belong to Warwick. He helped build it.

What the citations don't capture is the man himself. The Warwick Friendly Society remembered his "memorable one-liners that always made clear where he stood on matters." The Caledonian Society mourned his love of all things Scottish, pipe band, highland dance, Celtic culture, and his decades of dedication. The Pipe Band called him simply "a rock for 'Thistle', in the good times and the difficult times."

A few years ago Doug documented much of his own life in his careful, unhurried handwriting, six pages covering everything from his first job application (knocked back, he suspected, not because he was colour blind, but because they simply had no vacancies) to the £6 he drew for an entire year's farming during the 1953 drought. There was also the small matter of rolling a Ford Prefect at a gymkhana in the paddock where the Warwick Saleyards now stand, after which he was, he noted, promptly grounded. He recorded it all in the same dry, matter-of-fact tone of a man who found his own story mildly amusing, and who never quite saw what the fuss was about.

Doug's life was celebrated on Monday 16 March at the Warwick Uniting Church, the same church he had served faithfully for years. More than 320 people filled the pews, with a further 233 watching the livestream from near and far. The Warwick Thistle Pipe Band played outside the church as mourners gathered. Inside, his seven grandchildren stood to share memories of the man they knew, not the councillor or the chieftain or the life member, but in his proudest and most beloved role, their Grampsy. Among the many other tributes, a poem written and delivered especially for Doug by Marco Gliori drew the room together. As the service concluded, Doug left the church through a guard of honour in the back of his beloved Subaru Brumby ute for one final ride, and rose petals collected by council staff from a local park were laid on the coffin. It was a day that felt entirely, perfectly him. As his daughter Sharon said, "Dad would have loved it."

He is survived by his wife Iris, his children Sharon, Iain and Scott, and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

In his own handwriting, at the close of those six careful pages, Doug signed off with five words: "It's been a marvellous trip." For the hundreds who packed that church, and the hundreds more watching from afar, the trip was all the richer for having him along.