Cherbourg has lost a local legend – Here is our tribute to our Uncle Robert “Rocko” Langton
This week we will say goodbye to our brother and Uncle – Rocko Langton – a legend in our Cherbourg community.
Legends are not born; they are created, they live on in a legacy left to us all – and this how Rocko Langton will be remembered.
A writer, a keeper and teller of Cherbourg stories.
He wrote songs about us, stories that must be told of our ways, our culture, and of our Cherbourg home.
Rocko Langton, a quite spoken, easy going, likeable man, well respected and who got on with anybody…. a legend born and bred here, a man who created his own story, written by his hand… in his own time.
Not an easy life… grandparents brought here to a mission; his dads father born up near Clermont at “Langton Station” which is where the family name comes from.
As a child, he his brothers and sisters, walked this country, fishing, hunting, going out bush to get sugar gum, making boomerangs and the like, they lived through restrictions, waiting in line at the ration shed for supplies, that full Barambah experience.
Rocko also grew up hearing stories of country, the bush, of art and culture, song and dance, he drew strength from the earth, his ancestors while he quietly created his story, built his legacy…. something he leaves here with us…. to carry forward.
Rocko’s impact is found all around us, his family, his character and his faith, that we easily find in the songs he wrote and sang, music that is now part of who we are, reflecting our identity and our stories.
Rocko also spoke without words…. in his art, his pottery, paintings and murals, works found in our community and beyond, stories on display for all to discover.
We as a community mourn you, but we know we have inherited so much from you Rocko Langton…. your legacy will endure.
You see the goal is not to live forever, but to create something that will endure
Mission accomplished Rocko – Rest in Peace brother – you WILL be remembered. Till we meet again in the dreamtime.