Perth's beer economy is a simple exchange of goods for services that's run through several Facebook pages connecting doers and drinkers.
But for two Perth families, this twilight online marketplace has brought another kind of connection - a family reunion no one thought possible.
The man at the centre of this unexpected family reunion is Clarence Leonard Wells who died recently aged 90.
He lived a full life serving many years in the Australian Army through WWII, always attending ANZAC Day services, and delivering newspapers using his mobility scooter until he was 87.
Along the way he married three times, and during his second marriage to Verna he fathered five children, who he never saw again when the union ended.
He then became a loving step-father to his new wife May's three children, but his step-granddaughter Nicole Mason said there was always curiosity about his other family.
"He didn't speak much of his other family at all, when he married my grandmother they didn't say much at all about them and so it became a bit of a family mystery, we knew we had other relatives, not blood relatives but they still shared him," Ms Mason said.
"I even got Pop to write down his own life story a few years ago and he wrote a tiny bit about them. But we always wanted to know more."
Their long held desire to meet this long lost other side of the family has now come - but in a way none of them ever expected.
Keen to honour their Pop's military service during the funeral, Nicole's sister Tammy posted on the Facebook page of Perth Beer Economy asking for a bugle player to attend and play The Ode and Last Post.
"Then we got told that Pop's blood grand-daughter Amanda was up flicking through the computer because she couldn't sleep and went on the Perth Beer Economy page and saw Tammy's post, saw the last name Wells and that was the same as her father's and thought maybe it was her long lost grandfather, who she didn't know but knew of, and she got in touch," Ms Mason said.
From there it was a flood of memories and tears as Mr Well's descendents got meet each other for the first time.
"We've got all of the missing pieces and they've got all of these missing pieces and it's all just coming together. I was apprehensive at first, a bit cautious, but when we met them all that just faded. They're great people, really down to earth, we fell like we are related. And the son we've met looks just like him - there's no mistaking the ears, they're a trademark!" Ms Mason said.
"Another big thing was that because of this we could actually put the names of all of his children in the death notices, which is really important, a small thing but very important."
Ms Mason said one of her step-grandfather's sons lived just eight kilometres away from his final home in Canning Vale, and there are scores of other missed connections, from schools to workplaces where each side of the family passed each other like ships in the night.
But now the reunion has swelled the family ranks - the late Mr Well's son Gary and his wife Linda have six children and eight grandchildren. Their daughter Amanda Axell (who made the connection on Facebook) said the reunion was as strange as it was joyous.
"We were always told he was out there somewhere. And now that he's been found it's a mix of feelings. Dad's was a bit apprehensive about it, but meeting the other family has been great. He's going to attend the funeral. It's bittersweet though, all those things missed out on. But it's still a pretty amazing thing - I went online and found my family!"
Ms Mason echoed those feelings, saying the families were focussed on the new beginnings this unexpected reunion could bring.
"It's very sad to lay Pop to rest, I was very close to him, but we're all also really looking forward to the wake. I'm sure there'll be plenty of stories to share and we'll have a laugh."
Mr Wells' funeral service will be held at Karrakatta Cemetery on Saturday.
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