FOR years retired mechanic Gerry Blom brought Border history to the wider world.
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However, few knew he did that via the Disappearing Albury Wodonga Region Facebook page which he oversaw and set up in 2012.
It was only after his death last Saturday that his daughter Belinda Blom revealed through a post on the site that Mr Blom was the person behind the page.
"He had a passion for taking photos and memories and he wanted to share them with people and he decided to do it (the Facebook site) one day," his other daughter Emma Blom told The Border Mail this week.
"He always said 'if you don't talk about it, people will forget'.
"He would be so embarrassed about it and would not want to talk about it, but we are so proud of him."
In addition to his own photographs and those of contributors, Mr Blom had a big archive of Border Morning Mail clippings.
Former Mail journalist and historian Howard Jones said they came from scrapbooks of articles dating from the 1940s to 1970s.
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They were once displayed in the newspaper's office for photo sales and had been destined for the tip before being saved and given to Mr Blom.
Having migrated in 1958 as a little boy with his parents Herman and Geesje from the Netherlands, Mr Blom grew up in an historically-minded household.
The story of Dutch plane the Uiver being guided to safety by Albury townsfolk amid the 1934 London to Melbourne air race resonated with the Bloms.
Mr Blom helped his parents on the food stand before it ended when the market moved to Wilson Street.
As for his personal history, Mr Blom attended Albury Public and Albury High schools before becoming a mechanic, spending most of his working life at the Albury Shock Absorber Centre.
He married Sharon in 1972 at the Assemblies of God church in Waugh Road and they had three children, with son Nicholas in addition to the two daughters, and 10 grandchildren.
Mr Blom, 65, died unexpectedly on Saturday, having posted his last article on the Facebook page on Thursday, a report on a New Zealand hockey club playing a Border representative team.
His daughters plan to continue the page and are encouraging offerings from the community.
Mr Blom's funeral will be held at 11am Wednesday at Glenmorus Memorial Gardens in Albury.
