JOEL Longmore had an infectious smile that could light up a room.
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His best mate Kevin Warr said Joel kept smiling even when he was diagnosed with leukaemia on November 25 last year.
Joel, 26, was laid to rest on Tuesday – 12 months to the day after his diagnosis.
“He was positive the whole time, that was just him,” Kevin said.
“He always said ‘it’s not going to beat me’.”
Joel spent months undergoing treatment after his diagnosis and was told he had gone into remission.
However, a couple of months ago he was given the news that the cancer had returned.
He passed away on November 17 in a Sydney hospital.
Joel and Kevin were best mates from a very early age.
“I knew him since year two, we went to Hanwood Public School together,” Kevin said.
“We spent pretty much every weekend at each other’s houses. I can remember riding pushbikes around Hanwood and fishing in all the channels we could find.”
The two played together in Griffith’s rugby league team in the under 13s competition.
“There was a story told at his funeral that his first game was being filmed and his parents couldn’t find him anywhere on the field,” Kevin said.
“They eventually found him – he was in the background picking daisies instead.”
Kevin has great memories of working with Joel, who was a plasterer.
The two would travel for work together.
“They were probably some of the best times I’ve ever had,” Kevin said.
He also has fond memories of Joel’s buck’s party.
“About 13 of us went to Canberra for the Manly v Canberra game. That was probably the best weekend we’ve had,” Kevin said.
Kevin was best man at Joel’s wedding to his soulmate Alyce on September 14 last year.
The couple’s home became the “party house”.
“Joel would go home at lunchtime on a Friday and clean up his shed for Friday night drinks,” Kevin said.
He was laid back and would do anything for anyone, Kevin said.
“He loved camping and fishing – he was a mad fisherman,” Kevin said.
Joel was laid to rest on Tuesday.
He is survived by his parents Mick and Jenny, who live in Leeton and his sister Jess, who lives in Griffith.