Stephen Moore, Brumbies captain, Wallabies player

Father – Dr Stephen Thomas "Tommy" Moore

Dad is a GP in Browns Plains, Brisbane. It's through his work that we actually moved to Australia from Ireland when I was five years old in 1988. He bought a practice in a small town in QLD called Mount Morgan. So my early memories of dad were that he worked very long hours and he was away a lot. But as you get older you realise that was to provide for all of us to be able to have all the amazing opportunities we had as kids. I'll never forget the opportunities he gave us.

I have fond memories of going into the clinic when he was working, sitting in the waiting room and him bringing jellybeans out. Little things like that stick in your mind.

I also have great memories of dad bringing me down to Brisbane to watch the Wallabies, the State of Origin, the Australian cricket team. We used to go on a lot of trips like that, myself and dad, father and son trips to Australian sporting events. That was probably part of me becoming who I am now and my love for sport.

He's always had a strong work ethic, always worked long hours in a job that he loves. But he also knows how to have fun, he goes out and has a good time, he really enjoys his time away from work.

Dad's a great grandfather, he has a special bond with my kids, all the grandkids know him as Popeye.

Paul Jurak, local photographer "Kayak cameraman"

Father – Zvonko Jurak

My earliest memory with dad is driving in the old Valiant, cruising around in the car. Three on the tree, no seatbelts, cruising around on the back seat or laying up on the parcel carriage on the back end and watching all the trees go by. I remember sitting in the car waiting for him at soccer trainings. He worked at the slipways in Newcastle on the docks. I remember sitting in the car waiting for him to come back out and you'd hear the hooter blow. I'd do the 500-metre sprint to find him and he'd pick me up and carry me back with all of the guys – it was pretty cool actually.

Later on in life he took me back to Croatia. We went for a long trip, just him and me and he showed me where he grew up. You could see the nostalgia, he had so much pride. "This is the corner where I had my first fight, this is where we broke the glass window, this is where we trained …" That will be with me forever.

He taught me that to give your opinion is a valuable thing. He always said "You walk with your head on your shoulders, not on your chest."

I owe him a lot for the morals, values and ethics he put into us. He also taught me to enjoy.

Every time we meet, we hug and kiss. When I end a phone call I say "Mate, love you heaps" and he says "Love you too".

Rob de Castella, world champion marathon runner

Father – Rolet de Castella

I'm the eldest son of the eldest son of the eldest son and dad's mum passed away when she was quite young and his dad was fairly old so he had a very significant role in the upbringing of his brothers. He had a high degree of independence that came from that. It didn't matter if it was replacing an engine in a car or plastering walls inside the house or whatever needed to be done, he was the sort of person that would roll up his sleeves and get on and do it.

Dad knew early on that he was high risk for heart disease. He had his first heart attack when he was 49. I was there with my mum when he collapsed, we carried him into the bedroom and the ambulance came and took him off to hospital.

He started running marathons after his heart attack, and went on to run about 30 of them. He ended up running a PB time of 2:58 when he was in his 60s. Eventually he passed away halfway through a 30-kilometre training run on a Sunday morning when he was 73. So he really was an incredible inspiration to a lot of people.

He'd drag me out in the mornings and we used to run together around the streets of Kew where we grew up in Melbourne. I used to hate it as a young fella, but eventually I got into it.

He was passionate and a bit obsessive, he was bordering on being a healthy eccentric. Most of the things he focused on were good healthy obsession. "If it's worth doing it was worth doing well" was one of his favourite sayings and he would give it just absolute everything.

He was serious, genuine, loving, caring and driven by a desire to help other people. Dad had a pretty good balance but sometimes he went close to the edge. Life was very precious and something which you needed to make the most of. That's the attribute that drove him to have passion for whatever he did.

Richard Luton, Canberra real estate agent

Father – Basil Luton

My father was tall, prominent, always dressed well. He was just a local farmer but everyone knew him. He was happy-go-lucky and also involved in tennis and billiards and he was a member of the local firefighting brigade, so he was well known.

My earliest memory of dad, who was a fourth-generation farmer, is hard work. I was with him seven days a week, being on an isolated farm. We used to go to school Monday to Friday and then because you were miles out of your local town you didn't have interaction with other people of your age you were out helping your father, working hard Saturday and Sunday. You leave the house after breakfast and come back for lunch and go back in the afternoon. I was always with him, working side by side learning his skills.

One of the things I loved most about my dad was he did like fast cars and drove very fast . He'd take us to the school bus five miles from the farm, so as soon as we turned onto the roads there were other parents in their cars . Him and another father used to have a race down the road to the school. Three or four kilometres in their Land Rovers, and they used to overtake each other the whole way. They used to have their race and we used to be passengers in the back seat.

He's very, very proud of how our company has gone, proud of what I've done. The hard work, passion and dedication I got from him.

Ken Helm, local winemaker (Murrumbateman)

Father – Francis George Helm

My strongest memory of dad was he was always encouraging us to go out and do things. I don't know what age I was but I remember him giving me a pair of secateurs and saying "Your job is to prune the grape vines and apple trees". I remember that vividly. Right up until I left there and came to Canberra I was still pruning them for mum – long after he died.

The happiest times were when we would go for holidays. In those days we'd get in the car and drive from Albury to Shoalhaven heads – six hours in the car, three boys in the backseat of the car fighting, winding down the windows if you needed airconditioning and driving up through Kangaroo valley. It was an adventure for me. Living inland, the coast was very exciting Being down on the beach, fishing, collecting oysters from the rocks, really happy memories. Dad would wander along saying "Don't do this, don't do that" but really we knew he was saying "Have a go, have a good time". He was working hard running businesses, so holidays were really happy times.

I was in the winery one day and I was serving some customers and a fellow came in that I went to school with. I hadn't seen him for 30 years and he said "My God you look like your father. You've got the stamp of Helm on you!" That was the first time I thought about it, but now I look in the mirror and I think "Yep, I look like dad".

John-Paul Moloney, Canberra Times ACT news editor

Father – Michael Moloney

My dad was a teacher here in Canberra and for decades he used to take groups of dads and sons from the school to the south coast. They'd spend a weekend getting to know and understand each other better. I was taken along for hundreds of these weekends, so I grew up knowing just how much value he placed in the father and son relationship.

I spend a lot of time evaluating myself as a father and I use my dad as a benchmark and that's a daunting thing because I have a high regard for who he is. But it's a shoot for the stars kind of thing. I think a lot about his values as a father and try to apply them where I can with my kids.

Dad's a sentimental person and he does like to share his feelings with people. He wrote me a lovely letter when I was a baby spelling out what I meant to him and that was a really special thing. A couple of years ago just after my dad retired I thought I might do that same thing for him. So I wrote a letter telling him all the things that he meant to me and how proud I was of him and to be his son.

Sean Royle, Canberra restaurateur

Father – Greg Royle

My dad is someone that puts other people's needs first, specifically his family. That's far more important to him than anything for himself. He's the most generous, kindest-hearted saviour for people. He's funny, hilarious in dad-joke kind of ways. He's pretty amazing.

One of the most fun times we've had together was when we first moved to Canberra we bought in Deakin and before we moved in we did a huge renovation. I'm not sure if it was to save money or if it was a great father-son thing to do together, but we started by destroying the inside of the house together, ripping stuff out. The demolition of that place was a pretty seriously fun little time in our lives. It was fun getting to break stuff together.

He battled with illness for a lot of years. I watched this man work and battle endlessly, and offer nothing but the most amount of love than can be given by anybody. He refused to give up, refused to let it get the better of him, because he didn't want it to have any adverse effects on his families life. That quality, if I could have 1 per cent of it, it would make me the happiest person in the world.

He's my stepfather but he's actually my father. It's his birthday on Father's day this year, I want to say to him "I think you're the most amazing person that I've ever met in my life – you ARE my father and I love you."