Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Vale - George de Jong

It is saddening to report that one of our favourite members, George De Jong, lost his fight against cancer on 27 October 2010.

George suffered a series of serious medical problems over recent years, but he never let them get in the way of him having a good time - be it with his much-loved family, on the golf course, or at one of our lunches. Woy Woy was a venue that he particularly liked.

George Willem de Jong was born in Holland in 1940. He migrated to Australia, initially to Perth where he worked for a bank. He once told Nev Hine that, at that bank, he rose to the position of Chief Teller which at the time was in charge of the bank's total cash holding. He thought it was rather unbelievable that such a responsibility should rest with someone so young. However, it did entail spending his whole working day sitting outside the vault in the dungeon, and George thought he might have been appointed because everyone else refused to do it.

George then moved to Sydney where he joined Lombard Finance. Then followed many years with AGC where he served in various positions within the NSW operation - including Manager Dealer Finance.

He is survived by Pauline, his wife of 37 years, and his daughter, Kathleen.

Many of his old AGC mates were there to bid him a fond farewell at his service held on 1 November. Farewell, George, you will be missed.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Newcastle - 14 October 2010


Many thanks to Rob McPherson for selecting an excellent venue - the Customs House Hotel - for our Newcastle adventure. Fair weather, fine food and maybe just a drop too much excellent wine made for a most enjoyable occasion.

In addition to the regular faces, we had the pleasure of the company of Brian Sheppard, who was passing-through the area on his way home from holidays. Just in case you don't recognise him in the photos, he is now sans beard.

Peter McDonald , who now lives in Newcastle, joined us for the first time. Peter, a.k.a. "The Duck", worked with quite a few of us at Chatswood District Office and brought to mind many happy memories from those days.

It was great catching-up with both of these old friends.

Ken Small will soon be in touch regarding the Christmas Bash. Stay tuned.