John ‘Shocker’ Murray was an influential figure in the sub-midgets at the racecourse from the 1970s.

“He loved coaching juniors, he loved seeing them come through and play senior footy,” his son, Craig, said.

“He also loved the Wodonga Football Club.”

‘Shocker’ served a number of roles at his beloved Bulldogs, including secretary.

Footy was his passion and as a mad Essendon fan, he even did some ‘spy’ work for Kevin Sheedy at the Bombers.

He was also prepared to back his judgement of footballers.

“He and Terry Mahony, they lost a couple of (footy) bets where they had to do some pretty wild things,” Wodonga Morris medallist Brett Allen said.

Allen’s father, Laurie, was great mates with ‘Shocker’, the pair working together on the railways.

“What I remember most is there was always a backyard barbecue and the record player would always come out and they’d be singing,” Brett said.

“They’d always chant that this is the greatest song of all time, nearly every song that came on.”

‘Shocker’ loved a good time.

“Back in the day every drop of grog that came into Wodonga came from Carlton United Breweries in Melbourne and it came through dad’s goods shed at the railway and dad never used to run out of beer,” Craig said.

“Mum used to tell me that dad was the luckiest bloke she’d ever met.”

Perhaps the only time he wasn’t lucky was when he picked up his nickname.

“When he was young he got his head shaved or had a really short haircut and his best mate, Laurie, called dad ‘shocking head’ because he had a horrible looking head and ‘shocking head’ went to ‘shocker’,” Craig said.

‘Shocker’s’ antics will be fondly recalled at Albury’s St Patrick’s Catholic Church from 11am on Monday.

He’s survived by wife, Frances, children Craig and Karen, six grandchildren and four great grandchildren.