WHAT THEY ' RE DOING NOW – compiled by David Ashton (' 65 )
LEFT TO RIGHT : ROSS JOHNSON (’ 50 ), OLD BOYS AT BOB BONES ’ CHRISTMAS LUNCH ; ALLAN COOPER (’ 68 )
1940s
As HORRIE LEEK (’ 48 ) and his wife , Inge , approach their 90th birthdays this year , their lives are about to change markedly , as they prepare to move into a retirement village . ‘ We have enjoyed 65 years of marriage and seen our daughter , Amanda , educated at Korowa Anglican Girls ’ School and happily married ,’ Horrie told Great Scot . He said that after his years at Scotch ( 1944-48 ), he worked mainly in marketing and public relations , first with an oil company and later with an employer organisation .
‘ Over the years , I have been very much involved with community theatre , directing plays and musicals and receiving a few awards for my efforts along the way ,’ he said . ‘ Inge and I have enjoyed travel , mainly in Europe , and we have had many happy times on the Gold Coast . My best wishes go to all of the Scotch Family and , in particular , to any Old Boy who remembers me from those happy school days .’
1950s
ROSS JOHNSON (’ 50 ) lives at Beecroft , NSW , with his wife Pat . Ross was at Scotch from 1945 to 1947 and had to leave Scotch to become a boarder at Newington College , Sydney , when his parents returned to New Guinea after World War II . Armed with the NSW Leaving Certificate , Ross rejoined his parents in Wau , PNG , where his father worked for New Guinea Goldfields Ltd .
While working as a patrol officer in Papua and New Guinea for 20 years , Ross also gained his AASA ( later CPA ) qualification , enabling him to extend his career in the
PNG Public Service , where he held senior positions . In 1974 he accepted voluntary termination and returned to Sydney .
Joining the Standards Association of Australia in 1974 , over the next 19 years Ross was progressively promoted , retiring in 1993 as SAA ’ s Company Secretary . He then did a quality systems training course and became a registered quality systems auditor , setting up his own small consultancy . Now retired , Ross loves gardening and Probus , and he is Treasurer of Masonic Lodge Beecroft No . 359 ( UGL of NSW & ACT ) having been through the chair on two occasions . He and Pat have two children , four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren .
BOB BONES (’ 53 ) organises an annual pre-Christmas lunch at Royal South Yarra Tennis Club . Pictured above at the 2020 gettogether are ( standing ) DARRELL GRANT
(’ 52 ), EWAN BAIRD (‘ 52 ), BOB BONES (’ 53 ), GRAHAM SELLARS-JONES (’ 53 ) and BILL TEMPLE (’ 53 ). Sitting are BRIAN HAWDON OAM (’ 52 ), ROSS BRADFIELD (‘ 52 ), BRIAN RANDALL OAM (’ 51 ), GUS HAWTHORNE (’ 54 ), GAVIN HENDERSON (’ 53 ) and BOB MCCLELLAND (’ 58 ).
Having moved to the USA with his family in the mid-1980s , ALAN PILKINGTON (’ 59 ) – co-Dux of the School in his final year – retired 20 years ago from global advertising firm DDB Worldwide , where he was Chairman of its Chicago office , after leading some of the company ’ s international operations .
An active conservationist , Alan served as board Chair of District of Columbiabased Defenders of Wildlife , a national conservation group , participating in the restoration of grey wolves to Yellowstone Park in the 1990s .
In retirement , Alan has published novels , short stories , verse , and a memoir , all of which are available in the Scotch Library . Allan ’ s writing reflects his passion for the environment and the outdoors , especially fly fishing , which he enjoys in the American Rockies , and at his family ’ s cabin on the Big River in central Victoria .
An avid bird hunter , he has bird dogs as companions , including a Labrador and an American Brittany . Allan , a widower , now lives in Seattle , Washington state ; his two daughters , Emma and Amy , live in Connecticut and upstate New York respectively .
1960s
ALLAN COOPER (’ 68 ) studied architecture at RMIT and began as a draftsman at A V Jennings in 1970 in Melbourne and Canberra . After working as a designer at A V Jennings Home Improvements for many years , Allan established his own business , Rhynie Drafting Service , in 1981 , which continues to this day , specialising in extensions . Allan is also a design consultant for Spacemaker Home Extensions , and he has no plans to retire . Over 40 years , he says he has possibly designed more extensions than anyone else and hopefully enhanced the lives of hundreds of Melbourne families .
Allan and his wife , Karen , have three children , all of whom have dual US / Australian citizenship . Blaine , an architect , worked in New York for many years and returned with his family to Melbourne at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and now works
www . scotch . vic . edu . au Great Scot 79