OBITUARIES
including projects and voluntary roles with St Mark ’ s Anglican Church , Balnarring , Probus and Merricks Yacht Club .
Cliff played piano , and music was an intrinsic part of his life . He was a superb host with a quick wit . Cliff relished quality time and celebrations with friends and family .
A man who really did ‘ move mountains ’ for his family , Cliff died at home at Merricks Beach on 4 November 2021 .
BOYLE , Professor Alan John Fraser (’ 47 )
Alan ’ s son , Adam , wrote :
Alan was born at St Kilda on 17 July 1930 . He attended Mosman Public School ( 1935-38 ), Canterbury State School ( 1939-41 ) and Mont Albert Central School ( 1942-43 ) of which he was 1943 Dux . Having won a Junior Entrance Scholarship , Alan attended Scotch from 1944 to 1948 . With a classmate , Brian Darnton Bayston ( born 28.7.1930 , SC 1936-48 , died 7.5.2021 ), Alan spent most vacations hitchhiking around Victoria , including going to Adelaide and Sydney .
He stroked the Monash House VIII and also rowed in the 5th VIII . Alan was a keen Dramatic Society member . Many boys repeated Ninth Form ( Year 12 ) in that period , and he was a 1948 Probationer , a member of the 1948 1st XV , and Dux ( aeq ) with his friend George Reginald Pollard ( born 10.3.1930 , SC 1941-48 , died 22.5.2007 ).
After a very successful Matriculation in which Alan won three Exhibitions , he graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Physics in 1951 . In 1952 he began a Masters degree in nuclear physics , and in 1953 transferred to the Australian National University ( ANU ) with a scholarship to work with the first group of Doctoral students under Professor Titterton .
On completing his PhD at the end of 1955 , Alan took a position as Assistant Lecturer at the University of Manchester . In the late 1950s he was very fortunate to learn
of the discovery of what became known as the ‘ Mossbauer effect ’. He was an early pioneer , and quickly gained a reputation that was to lead to his appointment as Professor of Physics at the University of Western Australia . He arrived in Perth on the SS Orsova in April 1963 with his wife Thelma Joy Moxey and three children . Alan and Thelma had met at the ANU and married in London on Boat Race Day , 30 March 1957 .
Alan died peacefully at home at Swanbourne , Western Australia , on 12 February 2022 . He is survived by his wife , Thelma , children Penelope , Mark , Fiona and Adam , seven grandchildren ( including two boys who attended Scotch College , Perth ), and four great-grandchildren – all of whom live in Perth .
CLARKE , David Edward (’ 64 )
Dave ’ s partner , Marianne , wrote :
Dave was born on 24 October 1946 at Melbourne , the son of Thornton Vernon Clarke ( born 7.5.1916 , SC 1922-33 , died 7.7.1992 ). He attended Scotch from 1959 to 1963 . Among others at Scotch were his brother Peter ( SC 1952-59 ), cousin Robert Stewart Miles ( born 24.5.1949 , SC 1962-66 , died 14.12.2008 ), uncle Peter Stewart Miles ( born 25.10.1926 , SC 1937-43 , died 24.4.2011 ), son Matthew ( SC 1990-91 ) and great-uncles , including Robert Herbert Walker ( born 4.12.1880 , SC 1895-97 , died 13.1.1954 ).
Beginning as a jackeroo in 1964 on Caroonboon Station ( between Deniliquin and Hay , New South Wales ), Dave become a station hand , gaining experience in agriculture and animal management . His love of the Australian bush inspired his travel around outback Australia as a rural contract fencer .
On 13 February 1971 Dave married Diane Elizabeth Harris at All Saints Anglican Church , Kooyong . He returned to farming , building a home and dairy farm at Thornton , where he and Diane raised
their sons Daniel , Matthew and Jonathon . They separated in 1988 and subsequently divorced . In 1990 Dave met Marianne Therese Ruff , his lifelong partner .
Due to a farming accident in his early working years , Dave sustained a serious back injury that ultimately forced him to stop farming ... and being bitten twice by tiger snakes would not have helped , either . Needing to find an alternate source of income , Dave became a successful watercolour artist and mapmaker . His artworks have since been collected throughout Australia and overseas . Dave ultimately produced seven maps ; five in the Gippsland map series , followed by the AussieMap-Australia map and the Mornington Peninsula map . He was unassuming about his talents , and shied away from the art world because he could not stand the pretentiousness associated with it .
Marianne and Dave ran the Yanakie Gallery and Tearoom in South Gippsland for 10 years before moving to a small farm overlooking Corner Inlet and Wilsons Promontory , where they continued their work as practising artists . In 2011 , they retired to Leongatha due to Dave ’ s failing health .
Following a long illness , Dave died at home at Leongatha on 3 February 2022 , survived by his partner , brother and sons .
JAMES , Denzil Robert (’ 48 )
Denzil ’ s son , Stephen , wrote : Denzil was born at Bentleigh on 21 August 1930 and attended Scotch from 1945 to 1948 . He was a friend of classmates Brian Darnton Bayston ( born 28.7.1930 , SC 1936-48 , died 7.5.2021 ) and John Howard Brook ( born 25.1.1931 , SC 1946-48 , died 12.12.2019 ). Denzil represented Scotch in athletics , crosscountry , football , cricket and debating . He was keenly involved in music , especially as a member of the Senior School Choir and as a Cadet Pipe Band piper .
110 Great Scot Issue 165 – April 2022