Vale Daryle Hill 1950-2021

THE family of a well-known Torquay and Barwon Heads restaurateur have remembered him as a loving husband and an amazing father.

Daryle Hill passed away on March 28 at the age of 70.

Many of the region’s food lovers have had the pleasure of dining at establishments run by Daryle over the years – firstly Growlers in Torquay, and later At The Heads in Barwon Heads.

Daryle’s daughter Elizabeth said her father had a real passion for the Surf Coast and for hospitality.

The family’s tribute notice to Daryle described him as a loving husband to Jocelyn and an amazing father to Nathan, Mathew, Elizabeth and Laura, and a much-loved father-in-law to Brenton.

“Poppy will be so sorely missed by his three grandchildren Isla, Mia and Finn, whom he loved and adored,” the tribute said.

Torquay resident Paul Henderson moved to the town in the late 1990s and first met Daryle at Growlers.

“We met Daryle and Jocelyn through other friends when they took over Growlers from Murray Bingham and Nicky Buckley,” he said.

“A friend of mine knew Daryle through the hospitality game in Melbourne – we bought a house down here 21 years ago – and I literally walked into Growlers and he’d been told that I’d bought a place down here and I’d been told he’d bought Growlers, so we shook hands and that was the start of a fantastic friendship,” Paul recalled.

He said Daryle had been in hospitality his whole life but was most recently in semi-retirement.

“He was a great operator of Growlers, a character, and a fantastic family man with grandkids,” Paul said.

“Especially as the frontman of a restaurant like Growlers which has become an iconic part of Torquay; he was quite often people’s first impression of Torquay.”

A celebration of Daryle’s life was held at the At the Heads restaurant yesterday (Wednesday, April 7), followed by a private burial.