He was a man who was well known throughout the central west and will be remembered fondly by his family and many friends.

Born in Gilgandra on September 18, 1929, Mr Wilson passed away on December 29, 2014, at 85 years of age.

Growing up in Gilgandra, Alwyn and his friends would ride their bike to the western end of the town to the railway crossing to watch the steam railway shunting engine removing loaded "S" trucks of flour from the mill siding.

In an article written by Alwyn, titled My memories of Gilgandra Flour Mill 1947 to 1967, he recalled this experience as:

"The steady choof, choofing of steam emanating from the roof of the mill engine room could be heard or some considerable distance and on cold nights the puffing steam was a welcoming sight silhouetted against the lighted upper mill windows, signalling to all that things were going well within. We would ride our bikes into the yard and look upwards through the many windows, marvel at the spinning machinery within those solid brick walls."

This fascination must have captured Alwyn's curiosity because for 47 years he worked as a flour miller throughout the district.

In 1947, at 17 years old, he began work at the Gillespie Bros Mill in Gilgandra.

His duties involved sweeping the floors, passing messages, washing gluten, moisture testing and learning the 'hands on' work at the mill.

After six months, head miller Harry Pye allowed Alwyn to look after the mill while he went home for lunch.

Two years later Alwyn had progressed to shift miller and became the youngest miller in the company's Western Mill's, comprising of Wellington, Dubbo, Narromine and Gilgandra.

In 1967 he was transferred to the Dubbo Mill, now Ben Furney's Flour Mill, and became production manager.

In 1950 he met and married Betty Clarkson of Dubbo at the Holy Trinity Church.

They had three children, Michael, Ruth and Kriss.

From there the family moved to Sydney in 1967, with Alwyn working at the Anchor Flour Mills at Pyrmont.

After living in Drummoyne for 27 years, the family moved to Dubbo in 1995.

Four years later, Mr Wilson was approached by a group of local leather craftsmen, who told him there was a need for improved types of leather care products.

After a year of experimenting and investigating ways to make leather cleaning products, his formula worked and he began selling his products to wholesale leather merchants with the aim of assisting leather craftsmen with their plaiting and whip-making.

Alwyn adored his wife of 63 years, Betty, and will forever be remembered as a caring, respectful, selfless, big hearted, and non-judgemental man.