Great Scot September 2018 Gt Scot_154_September_online | Page 97
The following obituaries have been written by
family or friends.
RITCHIE, Graham Oughton (‘50).
Born 4.5.1933, SC 1947-50, died
31.5.2018.
RUSSELL, Barry Kenneth (‘57).
Born 21.5.1939, SC 1951-57, died
12.1.2017.
RUSSELL, Ian Charles (‘42). Born
26.9.1924, SC 1939-40, died
18.1.2018.
SCOTT, Eric John (‘48). Born
17.3.1931, SC 1945-48, died
4.1.2018.
SHELTON DSO MC, Jeffrey
James (‘44). Born 29.6.1926,
SC 1934-37, died 13.5.2018 at
Canberra, Australian Capital
Territory.
SHELTON, John Patten (‘42).
Born 15.8.1924, SC 1934-37, died
7.2.2018 at Narrabundah, Australian
Capital Territory.
SIMPSON, Gordon Leslie (‘47).
Born 3.6.1929, SC 1943-47, died
10.5.2017 at Nambour, Queensland.
SIMPSON, Richard John (‘75).
Born 13.4.1958, SC 1964-73, died
22.1.2018.
SMITH, Lionel Liddell (’36). Born
13.5.1919, SC 1933-34, died
26.8.2018.
SPARK, John Mason (‘48). Born
12.1.1931, SC 1936-48, died
9.6.2018.
SPICER (nee PHILLIPS), Marjorie
Constance Mary. Born 30.3.1921,
staff 1939-46, died 25 January
2018.
SPILLER, Maxwell Frank (‘49).
Born 6.6.1932, SC 1938-48, died
27.6.2018.
STEWART, Derwent Graeme (‘42).
Born 21.1.1925, SC 1931-42, died
17.6.2018.
TALLENT, David James (‘55).
Born 6.12.1937, SC 1943-54, died
15.4.2018 at Adelaide, South
Australia.
THOMAS, Dr Bruce MacAulay
(‘55). Born 24.10.1937, SC 1950-55,
died 24.2.2018 at Manly, New South
Wales.
THOMAS, Kenneth Hugh (‘45).
Born 23.3.1928, SC 1942-44, died
30.5.2018.
TURNBULL, Thomas William
Skene (‘44). Born 25.9.1927,
SC 1941-44, died 1.6.2018 at
Merimbula, New South Wales.
WARD, David McLeod (‘57).
Born 24.2.1940, SC 1952-57, died
7.4.2018.
WARK, Graham John (‘61). Born
22.3.1943, SC 1955-61, died
8.5.2018.
WILLIAMS, Bruce Russell (‘65).
Born 4.12.1945, SC 1956-59, died
17.1.2018.
WOODROFFE, Peter James (‘51).
Born 23.8.1934, SC 1948-50, died
29.4.2018.
VOLUNTEERS
NEEDED!
The Archives needs more
volunteers to join its busy
volunteer team, which
includes Old Boys of
various eras, wives, and
grandmothers. Volunteers
with some computer
literacy are urgently
required. All volunteers
must accept Scotch
policies and complete a
Working with Children
Check. The Archives are
open from Monday to
Friday and volunteers’
hours are flexible. Please
contact Paul Mishura on
9810 4470 or email: paul.
[email protected]
for more information.
DIETZ, Thomas Antony (‘41)
Thomas’ friend Don Hook (SC 1947-51) wrote:
Thomas Antony Dietz was born at the
Women’s Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales,
on 13 December 1923.
He attended Melbourne High School before
attending Scotch from 1939 to 1941 as a boarder in
School House and as a member of Littlejohn House (which was then
the House for all boarders). Also at Scotch was his nephew David
Buchanan (‘76).
In 1943 Tom enlisted in the army, and, subsequently, in the AIF.
Tom spent most of his military career in the Signal Corps. In September
1943 he was posted to Papua New Guinea, where he served in the
Kokoda campaign, fighting in and around Lae and Finschhafen.
Tom was in the 19th Australian Line Section, which provided telephone
lines for advancing infantry. It was a hazardous task, maintaining
telephone lines linking the forward troops with their headquarters.
The Japanese often cut the lines and ambushed Australian troops sent
to repair them.
After the war, Tom took up the scholarship offered by the Victorian
Forestry Commission before he had enlisted. However, like many
ex-servicemen, he found it hard to settle down, and he tried several jobs
before deciding in 1952 on a career as a teacher and later headmaster in
Papua New Guinea.
When Tom arrived in Port Moresby, the schools catered only for
Australian and other expatriate children. There were few educational
opportunities for local children. However, Tom began teaching a small
group of Papuan youngsters after his day’s work teaching the Australian
and other expatriate children. They, in turn, helped Tom to learn the
local Motu language and, over the years, he became an authority on the
language and its culture. He eventually became the Chief Interpreter of
the Papua New Guinea House of Assembly. Tom educated many of the
country’s decision-makers, and shaped the PNG curriculum.
He married Hane Igua Hila in the Poreporena Uniting Church,
Metoreia, Hanuabada Village, Port Moresby, in what is now Papua New
Guinea, on 14 February 1959.
It was said that Tom loved to teach – and he loved to learn. He was
passionate about the importance of education and literacy.
Tom died at Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, on 6 March 2018.
He is survived by his wife, his daughter Susan Dietz-Henderson, and by
his son Tommy.
HARVEY, Willson Wyatt Brett (Brett) (‘50)
Brett’s wife, Margaret, wrote:
Brett was born on 26 December 1931 at Kulki
private hospital, Moreland, and grew up on a farm
at Craigieburn. He attended Scotch as a boarder in
McMeckan and Arthur Robinson Houses from 1944
to 1950 as a member of Littlejohn House. Brett was a
1950 Arthur Robinson House Prefect.
After matriculating, Brett worked on various cattle properties in the
Gulf Country, North Queensland, near Barrow Creek in the Northern
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