But Tony Jones is a farmer, funeral director, civil funeral celebrant and captain of the local fire brigade.

Then you can throw in A grade tennis player and more-than-handy hockey player and coach.

Jones played Victorian Country level hockey, coaches Corowa-Ruth-erglen United and is in his first year of coaching the Albury-Wodonga Strikers in State League Hockey.

And he hasn’t done too badly either, with the team finishing on top of the ladder and playing in the major semi-final in Melbourne tomorrow.

There’s also the job of semi-official Santa Claus for the district, with his one-lambdeer sleigh a popular sight at schools, nursing homes, hospitals and other institutions.

He was Indigo Shire Citizen of the Year in 2004, recently received an award for 25 years of service to Landcare and, just for good measure, is the president of the board of management of Indigo North Health.

So how does the 54-year-old farmer from Brimin, west of Rutherglen, married to Lucinda for 25 years and the father of Grace, 22, Tim, 20 and Chloe, 17, manage to do so much and, perhaps more importantly, why does he do it?

“I guess I’m not too good at saying ‘no’,” he said.

“But it’s about wanting to be involved.

“And yes, I am a good time manager.”

You would need to be.

Mr Jones is the fourth generation of his family to own the 437-hectare property Loyola (named after the founder of the Jesuits, Saint Ignatius of Loyola).

It carries a poll Dorset stud, a commercial sheep operation, a small herd of 40 beef cows and calves and 125 hectares of crop.

The stud consists of 250 ewes, which turn out about 100 flock rams a year, and the commercial operation is made up of 300 cross-bred ewes.

So it must be Mrs Jones who keeps the home fires burning?

“My wife gives me enormous support,” Mr Jones said.

The only problem is that Mrs Jones also has an off-farm occupation, working at North East Health at Wangaratta.

The couple’s youngest child, Chloe, plays in the Strikers team and the year 12 Rutherglen High School student gives no indication of living a disturbingly frenetic lifestyle – in fact quite the opposite.

“Everything just gets done, there’s no real pressure,” Chloe said, with an almost imperceptible shrug of her shoulders, at the Strikers’ training session this week.

Perhaps Mr Jones and Chloe gain their calmness from their faith, with the family worshiping at Saint Mary’s in Rutherglen and Tony being a member of the Knights of the Southern Cross fraternity.

“I guess I was always going to be religious,” Mr Jones laughed.

“Two of my uncles are priests and three of my aunts are nuns.”

But you get the impression it is all more about having deep roots in the community.

His great-grandparents emigrated from England and bought the property in 1885, and his son Tim is showing some interest in being the fifth generation to run the farm.

Many would see Tony’s occupation as a funeral director as being somewhat, well, incongruous.

“I worked for Ken Filcock at Howard Squires in Corowa for about three or four years until he sold the business and now I own it with other partners,” he said.

“I was always a bit of a public speaker, it goes back to when I used to do a bit of acting I think, so I was often an MC at funerals and so being a funeral assistant made a lot of sense.

“Yes, it can be unpleasant at times but it is a great feeling to be responsible for looking after a deceased person with respect and returning that person to their family with dignity, especially if I am asked to perform a civil service.”

But his most famous effort to date must surely be his Lambdeer sleigh.

“It started about 30 years ago at the Carlyle Community Christmas Tree, held at the Carlyle Community Hall, where some of the movie The Sapphires was shot,” Mr Jones said.

“I converted a golf cart into a sleigh and trained up a stud ram to pull it.

“It’s been a big hit over the years.”

So is it dangerous walking around in a sleep-deprived daze?

“No, I get a good six to eight hours’ sleep a night,” he said.

ABOVE LEFT: Tony Jones coaches the Albury-Wodonga Strikers.

ABOVE RIGHT: Mr Jones runs a poll Dorset stud and a commercial sheep operation. BELOW: Mr Jones balances managing his farm with running a funeral home and community roles. Pictures: BEN EYLES, MATTHEW SMITHWICK