AT WORK: Peter Sporton in his Sturt Street bakery with his daughter Susie.
PETER Sporton is Ballarat’s iconic pie man.
From 1959, Mr Sporton delivered quality pies from his Sturt Street shop on a near-constant basis.
His 1950s-era pie oven was one of the most overworked pieces of equipment in Ballarat — his family says Mr Sporton took just seven days off work in more than 53 years.
Sadly, that pie oven now lies dormant.
A true giant of Ballarat’s cultural fabric, the 74 year old will be laid to rest today after losing a six-month battle with cancer recently.
Mr Sporton’s daughter Susie told
“Everyone knew him,” she said.
“People have been leaving flowers at Sporton’s Pies — it’s really an end of an era.”
That era was one of Ballarat’s great constants according to Ms Sporton, who said her father could always be found at the little shop at the centre of his heart.
But she said the mad Collingwood supporter would be missed for much more than just his great-tasting pies.
“He was a very kind, generous man,” she said.
“If anyone died, if anyone was having a function or fundraiser, he would always help people out.”
Ms Sporton said her father’s talents were known all over Australia — even becoming the main point of conversation on more than one occasion.
“We were in Queensland on a cruise and a man asked where we were from, so I told him,” she said.
“The man said ‘oh you’d want to go to this pie shop’ – I said ‘I do, it’s my father’s’.”
Son-in-law Scotty Nibloe said Mr Sporton was a “top bloke”.
“He had a great sense of humour, he was a lovely guy — but his pies, they were the best pies in Ballarat.”
Mr Nibloe said the respect around town for Mr Sporton was obvious.
“He would buy his wife jewellery for special occasions and he’d phone Karington Jewellers saying ‘I don’t have time to come down’ — so they’d bring trays of jewellery down to the shop so he could have a look,” he said.
“The people at Messer and Opie would fight to bring him clothes to try on because they knew they’d get a pie.
“He was just a top bloke.”
A funeral service for Peter Sporton will be held at the Doveton Park Funeral Centre in Doveton Street North today from 2pm.
His family have asked attendees to wear black and white.
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