Marist Brothers High School Darl

		Marist Brothers High School Darlinghurst Old Boys' Union
	Blue & Blue 29th. July 2017 www.mbhsdarlinghurst.org Gentlemen, Thunderous applause accompanied the toast to Alan Willoughby [Class of 1937], celebrating his 80^th anniversary of leaving the gates of Darlo, as a student for the last time. Ninety seven years young, Alan happily shared himself among the multitude and was mainly surrounded by those of the decade following him, being OBU legend Larry Hensby, Reg Richardson A.M., Don Ferguson, Noel Reid, John Pass, Kyran O’Donnell, Gavin Dumbrell, Jim McFall, Warren Eggins, Bill Barry and Michael Blakney with John Bolster, unable to make it at the last minute. Reg Scott would have been proud, looking down from the clouds, seeing his son, Chris, again taking his mantle, heartily welcomed by all. Kevin Fitzpatrick [1958] was our guest speaker, keeping the assembled engaged with anecdotes, historical facts and his own witty, good humour. What an outstanding presentation! Many spoke or have since written, in appreciation of his efforts. Fabulous! Garry (two “r”s) Cahill [1961] came along with classmate Robert Dick [1961]. Robert had hoped to encounter his chiropractor of yesteryear, Des Donovan [1950] but Des is well ensconced in sunny Qld these days. Robert has hosted a yearly reunion for his classmates and others, each year since leaving in 1961. He and Garry found classmate Chris Grygiel with his brother John {1962] and a few of John’s classmates: Peter Dixon, Richard Mason, Michael Moss, Peter Derriman, who had trekked up from unsunny Victoria and Robert Casamento [1960] among the many Old Boys. It was also great to see yesteryear’s champion swimmer, Neil Griffin [1961], in attendance. Noel Pye [1962] was unable to make the luncheon but did make the Mass at St. Patrick’s beforehand. Hugh Thompson [Class of ‘63] had kept a premiership winning rugby trophy for an old classmate for 47 years and was finally able to present it to him at the reunion - after all that time. Absolutely remarkable! Profoundly appreciated. The ever-debonaire, Duane Norris, joined his ’63 contingent, which included Roman Butchaski, Terry Malone (who steadfastly refuses to remove that thing growing on his top lip), Robert Brassil, Greg McMahon, Tony Bray, Peter Dawson and almost Grahame Howe. John Cooper [1964] enjoyed meeting up with many of the old Bondi crowd and we were also priveleged to greet Chris Minahan [1964]. Bernie York [1964] caught up with Richard Mason [1964] as both were also in Wollongong Teacher’s College together. Comments overheard: Robert Brassil [1963], “.. when I married my second wife, for the first time …” sounding reminiscent of Burton and Taylor but it was merely an aberration caused by the fine wine that Peter Sullivan [1965] had arranged. Peter also provided the Chivas Regal for the raffle, which fortunately escaped Bob’s grasp, otherwise it may well have appeared that he had a harem. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Repairs & Maintenance: Bill Halcro, Philip Hogan and Tony Jones, we wish you well with your challenges. You're in our prayers. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> It was a little too much for Pete Sullivan when Kyran O’Donnell [1954] lamented the inability of OBU reunion stalwart, Tony Jones [1965], to attend due to the inconvenience of brain surgery, which Tony attributed to surgeons having trouble locating it. The next minute, Pete had Tony, our longest travelling (W.A.) OBU national commuter on the line, to share the moment with 1965 friends, including Michael Howard,Peter Clarke, Tony Morrissey and Shane Smallwood. It was absolutely heartwarming; indicative of the permeating feeling, flowing in abundance from all the tables. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The Class of ’67 was well-represented, much due to the efforts of John Gallagher in co-ordinating his classmates, Fr. Paul Chandler, Oleh Butchatsky, Robert Woog, Dennis Coleman, Terry Dunlevy, Jeff Kildea, Chris Marks, Laurie Portelli and Tim Martin, who was proudly bearing a momento of momentos: the school bell, for which it’s believed, Br. Norman is still searching. Mark Gilmore met up with John Fraser, both who finished their HSC away from Darlo, as did Peter Downey. As Br. Paul Murphy noted about the reunion, ”I feel it was the best one yet. I was astonished by the number who attended. It is truly amazing.” This year is possibly to see Br. Paul making his last journey to his beloved Kuya Center in the Philippines, which has helped so many disadvantaged children over the decades. The OBU continues to support Br. Paul with his ongoing efforts to assist such children. All donations are gratefully received. Fact: Macron, the newly elected French president, has no children. German chancellor Angela Merkel has no children. British prime minister Theresa May has no children. Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni has no children. Holland’s Mark Rutte, Sweden’s Stefan Lfven, Luxembourg’s Xavier Bettel, Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon all have no children. Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, has no children. # Many of us are just realising what we've been doing wrong. Humour: Paraprosdokians Apologies: Bill Halcro [Class of ‘49] Bill is primarily responsible for the enormity of success that the 2017 reunion enjoyed. When he became ill, his greatest fears were realised as the president took control of the OBU financial accounts, culminating in the prospect of a massive loss due to the mind-boggling, incomprehensible, accounting-incompetence of the president. Bill’s ill health would have been further compromised, knowing that his well-guarded OBU funds were at the mercy of such incompetence personified. Only the foresight of John Bolster [1950] and Reg Richardson [1953] together with the business acumen of Peter Sullivan [1965], the wisdom of Bernie York [1964] and the forgetfullness of Tony Smith [1964], saved the day, leaving the OBU funds protected. We progressed without raffle tickets, where an imaginative, ticketless raffle was run, questionably leaving Bernie York as the winner. God must have stepped in. Frank O’Young (Class of ‘62) is continuing the trend for international reunions, meeting up with schoolmate Vic Brunetti (Class of ’62). Frank writes, “This year’s reunion shapes up to be a cracker and I regret that I am unable to attend. I will be travelling, with my wife Lorraine, to Aberdeen, Scotland to catch up with my daughter Natalie and her family and we will travel together to St Tropez in Southern France for a week, then on to Barcelona where we will met up with a fellow school mate, Victor Brunetti, and his wife Angela. We will be taking a cruise of the Adriatic and the Mediterranean docking in Venice. We will travel down the coast of Croatia for a week, finishing off the trip with a few days In Athens before flying home. Regards to all the old boys, Frank (Faiwah) O'Young.” Well, you’ve no idea of how much we welcome the advice of your good fortune, Frank, thinking of you sunning yourself, as we shiver and chill through another diabolical Sydney winter. Brian Buckley [Class of ‘67] asked classmate John Gallagher to pass on his apologies regarding the reunion and, as country folk have a tendency to do, Brian gives more colour and enlightenment into life itself, when rendering a simple apology. Brian continues, “I will be travelling from Wagga Wagga, where we have lived for the past thirty nine years, to Melbourne to spend a week with our daughter Kate while you are sipping cold beers and reliving stories of the last fifty years. My sister sent me the notice from the Telegraph and an email was on my list of things to do. I have finally gotten around to it. I always remember the things that I have not forgotten to do. However, as the years progress it takes me longer to remember the things that I have not forgotten to do. My father went to Darlinghurst in the 1930s and always spoke fondly of his days there even though he left the school to start an apprenticeship as a toolmaker after a difference of opinion with one of the Brothers about the bona fides of one of his close classmates. He never did get to be a dentist as he had aspired to be. I certainly enjoyed my two years there. There must have been something, to travel from Hornsby each day. Being in Wagga I do not have contact with any of the class of 1967. I have seen Jeff Kildea on a couple of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ programs where he has been called on to give an historical perspective to the situation that is being discussed. He did a Law degree and became a barrister. I caught up with Tim Martin at a reunion that Denis Coleman had organised possibly twenty-five years ago and he was working as a solicitor and sending some of his clients to Jeff when the circumstances warranted a barrister. Paul Roberts was in Wagga for a while lecturing at the University. I did some first and second year Economics tutoring and marking for him. He left and went to Western Australia around 1990. He retired from the NSW Education Department as a director of a TAFE college on the North Coast and now lives up there. Denis Casey worked for the N.R.M.A. in a managerial role at Hurstville, but died young from cancer, I think. Paul Chandler joined the Carmelites and became a priest. I think Bernard Cramsie became a pilot, he certainly wanted to be. I gather from your email address that you joined the Army. I was told not long after we left school that you had gone to Duntroon. As for myself, I went to Sydney University on a teacher’s scholarship. I saw a bit of *Paul Roberts* in those days as we both did Economics and Geography. I taught for six years at Sydney Technical High School at Hurstville. After getting married, Helen and I transferred to live in Wagga. She taught at Turvey Park Infants until Kate was born in 1984. I was the Social Science Department at The Rock Central School, twenty-five kilometres from Wagga. After ten years there I transferred to Lockhart Central School, 60 kilometres from Wagga where I spent ten years as the Head Teacher of Secondary Studies and another ten years as principal before retiring in 2010 after 42 years on the DET payroll. I reckoned by then they could get on without my lack of wisdom. I could certainly get on without theirs. While in Wagga I have played cricket; first grade rugby for eight years ( mainly because I went to training for two nights a week so that I could keep up with the ball and the others turns up once a week, if at all); joined a running club after becoming too old for team sports and managed to run fifteen marathons before my knees gave way; and now play a bad round of nine holes of social golf four morning a week (though lately the frost and fog has restricted this). We get down to Melbourne to visit Kate a good bit and manage to go to the home games of the Melbourne Rebels in the Super Rugby. I think I have been enamoured to lost causes when it comes to supporting and playing in football teams. For the last ten years I have sung with the Wagga City Rugby Male Choir. This has led to two trips overseas, once with the Choir to Europe and the U.K., and once to sing in a combined choir before the London Olympics. Helen and I have also fitted in a bit of travelling to go with these trips. We also put on concerts in Wagga and surrounding villages. It is a non-auditioned choir and some have described it as ‘a men’s shed with sheet music as the tools. That has been my life in a nutshell since leaving school. I have included a photo of Helen and I with some Irish relatives which we met when we visited Cavan in 2015. They came to visit last year. As you can see, I still have a face that would not get a job on radio! I also have had a beard since 1972 when I started teaching as I quickly realised I would not have time to shave each morning” and, as all country folk do, Brian signs off with a warm invitation to all, “If anyone is driving to Melbourne, their bed is always made up if they would like to break their journey in Wagga. We are half way between Sydney and Melbourne. Have a GOOD TIME (at the reunion) tomorrow.” Brian’s wishes could not have been better fulfilled, with abundant laughter still echoing as the last lights flickered. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Beyond Blue continues to provide support for anxiety and depression, providing resources for recovery, management and resilience. www.beyondblue.org.au >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Servo fidem, Kym Derriman Gatekeeper Marist Brothers Darlinghurst Old Boys’ Union www.mbhsdarlinghurst.org eMail: darlo@6mins.com
LC Year refers to those who sat the LC or HSC in that year and also to their classmates who left school in earlier years. President, OBU Kym Derriman 9311 3344 Vice President Tony Morrissey 9311 4598 Secretary/Treasurer Bill Halcro 9661 7710 Marist Executive Br. Paul Murphy 0449 640540 Tony Smith Asst. Treasurer Philip Hogan Asst. Secretary Bernard York Board Member Sports Portfolio Jay Robertson All mail to: The Secretary, MBHSD_OBU 20 Paterson St Matraville 2036 eMail: darlo@6mins.com Old Boys' Union* WW2 Honour Roll Blue & Blue Back to Main Page Old Boys' Union WW2 Honour Roll Blue & Blue Back to Main Page