Paying tribute to Troy Mackay

Troy Mackay was a very private man and while many people knew and loved him, only a privileged few knew everything that made him tick.

Life partner and fiancee Jasmine Walker speaks of a hard worker, an avid fisherman and a devoted companion and dad.

This is how she, their five children and one grandchild will always remember the 42-year-old whose life was tragically cut short last week.

Troy had gone out on a simple fishing trip to the Whitsunday islands with friends but didn’t return.

It’s thought the 29-foot cruiser the men were aboard hit rocks on the southern end of Teague Island in the early hours of the morning last Wednesday, February 17.

But Jasmine said if tragedy had to strike, Troy would have wanted things the way they were.

“Troy would be grateful for the way that it happened and that it wasn’t one of the young fellas,” she said.

“They don’t have families yet – they haven’t done that – it’s the outcome he would have wanted. He was a really caring guy.”

Troy was a form-set carpenter by trade but branched out into many business streams including concreting, fencing and the import business.

“He was a very busy man and a very intelligent man,” Jasmine said.

“In fact, he’d been working so hard lately on so many different things.”

The fishing trip last week was a little bit of relaxation in the midst of such a full schedule of work and a pastime Troy “absolutely loved”.

Troy and Jasmine became engaged nine years ago and, she joked, “the deal was we’d get married when I bought him a boat”.

“But by the time I’d bought him a boat, I was over it,” she laughed.

Saying all of Troy’s hard work was about creating a future for their family, Jasmine noted, “he did everything for his kids”.

“And he would also do anything for anybody,” she said.

“If someone needed something he’d always be there to help.”

A funeral service will be held at the Proserpine Entertainment Centre, next Tuesday, March 1, at 10am and everyone who knew Troy is welcome to attend.