Vale, "Pumpkin Head"

We remember Paul Dear, a beloved premiership Hawk and the 1991 Norm Smith medallist, who passed away on Friday after a courageous battle with cancer.

***Please visit www.daretohope.com.au and help the Dear family give hope to Australians living with pancreatic cancer.

A shroud of sadness continues to hover over Hawthorn with the club now mourning the passing of yet another key figure.

Following the passing of 1976 premiership ruckman Bernie Jones last month and Jack Gunston’s father Ray earlier this week, news broke Friday night that 1991 premiership forward and Norm Smith medallist Paul Dear had finally lost his long and inspirational battle with pancreatic cancer.

He was 55.

Dear, who played 123 games and kicked 86 goals between 1987 and 1996 was a prowling and marauding key forward, recruited to the club from Churchill, in the heart of the club’s old Gippsland recruiting zone. He was known at the club as “Punka” or “Pumpka”, either of which was an abbreviation of “Pumpkin Head”.