"His connection to Yass was very real" said Dr Jonathan Williams, who now occupies the building where Ian Craig was born in Demestre Street in 1935.
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Australia's youngest test cricketer, who passed away on Sunday aged 79, visited Yass twice in recent years to reconnect with the town of his birth.
"He moved to Sydney when he was three but he never forgot about his roots," Dr Williams explained.
Craig earned his baggy green in 1953 aged 17 years and 239 days after making a double century against South Africa while playing for NSW.
He then also became the youngest player to ever captain his country, leading Australia at just 22 years and 194 days, a feat which may never be matched.
Ross Luff, former head of the Yass Valley Sports Council, explained that despite Craig's remarkable achievements, he was never inducted into the Yass Sporting Hall of Fame.
"Because he left Yass so early in his life, and his parents weren't originally from the town, he wasn't really embraced as a home-grown sportsman," he told the Tribune.
"But we did get a street named after him about 10 years ago - Craig Close - out near the saleyards."
Whether or not you consider him a product of Yass, there is no denying he was a national sporting hero, and will be missed.
Vale Ian Craig.
