WHAT THEY ' RE DOING NOW – compiled by David Ashton (' 65 )
LEFT TO RIGHT : JOHN COPPOCK (’ 50 ); DON MOYES (’ 50 ); GORDON BERG (’ 68 ); JOHN GODDARD (’ 68 ); JAMES TAYLOR (’ 76 )
1950s
After leaving school in 1950 , JOHN
COPPOCK graduated from the Victorian College of Pharmacy in 1954 . Following registration John worked as a locum and manager before he purchased his first pharmacy in Richmond in 1962 which he operated until the mid-1970s . He then purchased a pharmacy in Malvern , where he remained until he retired .
Over the years John has taken on a variety of official roles , including Director of Pharmaceutical Defence Ltd from 1969-2011 , and he was Chairman from 1971-2011 . He has also been a Director of both Guild Insurance and Financial Services and Australian Pharmaceutical Publishing Company . John is also a former Treasurer of the Pharmacy Board of Victoria . ( See the OSCA section of this issue for details of John ' s Australia Day 2022 award .)
John is still serving as President of the Pharmacists ’ Support Services , an organisation helping to safeguard the health and wellbeing of pharmacists nationally .
John and his wife Lyn have lived in Kew for 58 years and remain actively involved in the Kew community after raising their three daughters . John ’ s grandson , ROBBIE
BECKWORTH , is a member of the Scotch Class of 2021 and was awarded Triple Colours last year .
DON MOYES (’ 50 ) hosted a party on Saturday 5 March to celebrate his 90th birthday ( 7 March ), with a cricket theme and memorabilia display , including conclusive evidence of the incredible seven hat-tricks he took during his long cricketing career . At the party were Scotch mates from way back
– IAN HARRIS (’ 49 ), BRUCE APPLETON
(’ 53 ), TED LEVECKE (’ 48 ), KEN SCOTT (’ 48 ), TREVOR STEER (’ 55 ), and NEIL LUCAS (’ 64 ).
After a successful career in taxation accounting and merchant banking , Don diversified his interests into agricultural activities . He now lives in a retirement village at Berwick established in and around Lord Casey ’ s former residence , Edrington Park Mansion .
While passing through Forrest , in Victoria ’ s Otway Ranges , JIM DERHAM (’ 56 ) and his wife Judy dropped in to a brewery / restaurant , where the proprietor gave them the address of local resident BLAIR CURRIE (’ 57 ). The visit was prompted by an item about Blair in ‘ What they ’ re doing now ’ in last December ’ s Great Scot . Blair said : ‘ It was the first meeting , we reckoned , in over 60 years !’
At Blair ’ s home , Jim was pleased to note a print of a painting by BOB WADE OAM (’ 49 ) of the Memorial Hall , along with a photographic panorama looking across the Main Oval from the old pavilion scoreboard . Jim extended an invitation to Blair to visit the Derhams at their Winchelsea property .
1960s
After leaving school , GORDON BERG (’ 68 ) completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree at the University of Melbourne and secured a job in his chosen field at the Victorian Department of Agriculture in 1973 . His career included managing and delivering research and development projects and programs on plant pest and disease management , and , managing service delivery groups including diagnostic services .
Gordon ’ s final appointments prior to retirement in 2017 were as Principal Officer Entomology in the Biosecurity Branch of Agriculture Victoria , in which he was responsible for planning and responding to outbreaks of endemic and exotic plant pests and diseases , and , as the Victorian Commissioner on the Australian Plague Locust Commission . In retirement he is currently completing a PhD at the University of Melbourne examining outbreaks of the Australian plague locust affecting Victoria .
Gordon and his wife Catherine were married in 1978 , and live in Camberwell . COVID restrictions allowing , they spend as much time as possible with their son and daughter , and their son-in-law and two grandchildren . Gordon also enjoys interests in , among other things , antique cars and photography .
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes , published late in 2021 , is the second novel written by JOHN GODDARD (’ 68 ). After a career as an English teacher and then Director of Studies and as a Principal ( Arndell Anglican College in the outer north-west of Sydney ), John felt moved to have a go at writing a novel , having taught students for so long . Conversations , with Clocks was his first novel .
Both books are set in a boarding school environment , and John says they may be of interest to those who like to follow the internal workings of a fairly closed community . He told Great Scot : ‘ I have enjoyed the process enormously . And I like to think that my love of literature got a bit of an extra push from the teaching of [ legendary English teacher ] “ Gunner ” Owen !’
John said ‘ Gunner ’ could be a bit of an enigma . ‘ I remember him taking an essay I had written in my tiny handwriting and
www . scotch . vic . edu . au Great Scot 101