Dick Jenje, affectionately known as “Old Man River”, was killed when his vehicle rolled three and a half times along the Flinders Highway on Tuesday.

Mr Jenje was a man that was always active in life and truly an inspirational figure for other elderly residents in Mount Isa.

Always keen on canoeing on the North West waterways, Mr Jenje’s commitment and enthusiasm for the Gregory Canoe Race never wavered and was part of the reason for his famous nickname – and it was a name he was very proud of.

Whenever The North West Star reporters interviewed Mr Jenje, he would request his nickname be placed in the newspaper lines rather than his birth name.

And despite being in his 80th year, Mr Jenje entered the waters at the Gregory Canoe Race for the 29th consecutive time earlier this year.

The fit senior citizen was also known as a “Mr Fix It” and would regularly donate his time to repair areas needing mending at the Mount Isa Good Shepherd Catholic Church, where he was a member of the congregation, and mow lawns and assist elderly widows in the community.

His life, in the whole, was a true success story.

Born in Holland, Mr Jenje arrived in Mount Isa as a penniless immigrant in 1952.

He was just 22 years old and spoke very little English.

Working as a labourer for the electricity commission, he travelled widely throughout regional Queensland.

But there was one town that made a big impact – when he saw Mount Isa, he saw opportunity and quickly decided to make the expanding town his new home.

“I was living in a tent and would walk in the heat every day to the mine office and ask for a job,” Mr Jenje told The North West Star earlier this year.

“There was a lot of luck involved. Basically the foreman had to like you. Some people would wait until the foreman went on holidays and then go ask for a job. More often than not they’d get one.”

After dozens of knock backs, Mr Jenje eventually found work.

He began working the furnace, and spent his first 13 years on the surface.

Eventually, he got a job underground, where he spent 21 happy years.

One year, he returned to Holland for a holiday after carefully saving his wages and returned to Australia with a bride, Betty.

Mr Jenje raised three sons in Mount Isa and lived the remainder of his years happily in the only house he ever bought in the city.

Dick Jenje was 79 years old.

Passenger pays tribute, Page 3.