Great Scot May 2020 Great Scot 159_MAY 2020_ONLINE_V3 | Page 94

OBITUARIES
of John Graham (Jock) Fussell (born 16
March 1925, SC 1937-40, died 1 September
1977). Among other relatives, Rod was the
great-nephew of Robert Douglas Fussell
(born 29 January 1891, SC 1906, died 19
October 1962), and the great-grandson of
Scotch Council member Alfred Fussell (born
4 September 1859, died 29 April 1937).
Rod left Ballarat College to attend
Scotch from 1961 to 1967, initially boarding
in McMeckan (1961-63) and then Arthur
Robinson House (1964-67). He rowed in
the 1967 2nd VIII.
Rod’s career started at Australian
Estates, and he then moved to AML&F, the
now-defunct big pastoral house, where he
began building an army of friends in the
stud sector across the eastern states. He
then joined Garde Wilson, stock and station
agents, at Armidale, New South Wales,
where he became a partner and director.
Moving to The Land newspaper, Rod
wrote a popular weekly column, From
the Catwalk, which was filled with chatty
snippets from around the saleyards and
livestock marketplace. He became the
newspaper’s livestock sales manager.
With his business partner, Rod purchased
Kilborne's First National real estate agency
in 2000 in the small seaside town of Urunga,
south of Coffs Harbour, NSW. Rod was a
very sociable person, and a great yarn-
spinner with a passion for people, livestock
and golf.
On 15 December 1973 Rod married
Jillian Margaret Webster at Scotch, and they
had two sons, James William John Fussell,
who attended The Armidale School and
Blue Mountains Grammar School and died
on 19 May 2008, and Charlie, who attended
Blue Mountains Grammar School. Rod and
Jillian divorced in 2001. Rod’s partner for the
remainder of his life was Dianne Susan (Di)
Kemp.
Rod died suddenly on 24 November
2019 at the Bellinger River District Hospital,
Bellingen, New South Wales. He is survived
by his former wife, partner, son Charlie,
Charlie’s partner, Fiona, and grandson,
Jock.
94
HEWITT, Geoffrey
Elliott ('47)
Geoff’s brother, Ian,
wrote:
Geoffrey Elliott
Hewitt was born at Koo
Wee Rup on 30 August
1930, the son of Dr Alan
Boswell Hewitt (born 8 March 1899, SC
1912-17, died 13 May 1967).
Relatives at Scotch included his
brothers Dr John Boswell Hewitt (born 28
December 1925, SC 1938-42, died 16 June
2002), Dr Ian (SC 1940-45) and Graeme
Ormond Hewitt (born 2 August 1935, SC
1947-52, died 5 August 2016), uncle Joseph
Eric Hewitt (born 13 April 1901, SC 1913-14,
died 1 November 1985), son Christopher
John Hewitt (born 25 September 1962, SC
1974-80, died 19 April 2006), nephews Peter
(SC 1964-72), Michael (SC 1965-74), William
(SC 1968-73) and Dougall (SC 1967-76), and
great-nephews Thomas (SC 2004-09) and
Mac Hewitt (SC 2006-11).
Entering Scotch as a dayboy in 1943,
Geoff became a boarder in School House
from 1944 until leaving Scotch in 1948.
He was a member of the 1945 and 1948
Athletics teams, competing in the under 15
long jump with Principal Colin Macdonald
Gilray as his coach. He was a member of
the 1948 1st XI, the premiership 1947 1st
XVIII, and the 1948 1st XVIII. He received
triple colours in 1948.
Geoff was 1947 and 1948 Captain of
School House, 1947 Vice Captain and 1948
Captain of Littlejohn House, and a 1947
and 1948 School Prefect. He was a cadet
lieutenant and a member of The Scotch
Collegian editorial committee.
Geoff entered the RAAF Academy at
Point Cook, becoming an Equipment Officer
as his eyesight was not up to air crew
standards. Graduating in 1952, his overseas
postings included Malta (1954), Butterworth
(Malaya, where he was Mentioned in
Dispatches during the Malayan Emergency),
London, and Paris, where he was an air
attaché. He served in the Vietnam War
from 22 April to 10 December 1969. Geoff
retired as a Wing Commander in 1975 and
spent several years in the private sector in
Melbourne, before moving to Perth, Western
Australia.
On 20 December 1958 Geoff married
Elenor Malinda (Lyn) Gathercole at Hobart,
Tasmania. Lyn died on 7 June 2000.
He died at Perth on 4 February 2020,
and is survived by his daughter, Jane, and
three grandchildren.
LAWRENCE, Peter
Begg ('54)
Peter’s daughter, Clare
Lawrence, wrote:
Peter Begg
Lawrence was born at
Elsternwick on 15 March
1938, the only child of
Laurie Henry and Ella Isabel (nee Cooper)
Lawrence. He attended Lakes Entrance
Primary School, whose supportive Principal
gave him extra classes to help prepare him
for the rigours of Scotch.
Peter attended Scotch from 1949 to
1955 as a member of Littlejohn House,
and boarded in McMeckan and School
Houses. He repeated Matriculation in 1955,
as he was too young for university. Peter’s
relatives at Scotch included his cousins
Graeme (SC 1949-54) and Frank Lawrence
(SC 1954-59).
Peter graduated with a Bachelor
of Commerce from the University of
Melbourne, where he excelled at table
tennis, having developed his skills in the
boarding houses at Scotch. He earned triple
Blues and won the 1958 Intervarsity Table
Tennis Singles Championship. Through
table tennis he met Irma (Lorraine) Wood,
marrying her at Scotch on 20 January 1962.
After working at Australian Paper Mills,
Peter returned to university in 1965 as a
student in the University of Melbourne’s first
MBA course. He then began stockbroking
at Roach Williams & Co in 1969. Peter was
a stockbroker until retiring from Bell Potter in
his 70s. Apart from selling and re-selling his
business, in 1986 he executed the biggest
trade in Australian stock exchange history,
buying BHP stock on behalf of Elders to
thwart Bell Resources' takeover bid.
Perhaps Peter's greatest passion was
horseracing. He loved owning horses and
administering horseracing. Chairman of the
Melbourne Racing Club, Peter Le Grand,
said of Peter’s 31 years on the committee,
11 as Chairman: ‘He was an absolute
Great Scot Issue 159 – May 2020