Brian met the love of his life, Pauline, while they were still children. They grew up together in Mascot and had a common fence between their backyards. Their families were good friends and often spent time together. Brian had four brothers, and Pauline recalls how they often got into a bit of mischief - as boys often do.
When Brian was around 15, his family moved to Kogarah. Having attended a Catholic School in Mascot, he went on to finish his schooling at St Mary’s Cathedral College. It wasn’t until Brian began his apprenticeship to become a cabinet maker, that he and Pauline started dating. They were married in 1967 and had two wonderful children, a son and daughter - and have two grandchildren, who have been an absolute joy in their lives.
After finishing his apprenticeship, Brian worked as a cabinet maker, remaining with the same company where he did his apprenticeship for 30 years. While looking for work, a friend of Brian’s mentioned there were jobs going at the Sydney Morning Herald. He went for an interview and got the job.
Brian worked at their Broadway building for a few years. He was very proud of having made the extra large boardroom meeting table, which sat in the Broadway executive office. An opportunity came up and he moved to Chullora, where he was part of a team helping to set-up the Sydney Morning Herald's newly built printing facility.
The machinery came from Germany, so Brian worked closely with the German fellow who flew over to assist with the installation of the machinery, and training for the ongoing maintenance of the machines. Brian mostly did maintenance while at Chullora - whatever needed doing, he did it. Brian spent 20 years with the Sydney Morning Herald before retiring.
Golf, bonsai and travelling were some of Brian’s passions in life. Pauline and Brian loved to travel together but it was Pauline who was the instigator of most of their trips. It all started when Pauline took Brian to Scotland. This was because he was a keen golfer, and the game of golf was invented in Scotland over six centuries ago.
Brian’s favourite thing was playing golf at St Andrew’s - known as the ‘home of golf’. Brian absolutely loved it there because it was the premier golf course and may be one of the most important courses in golf history. Pauline called it the holy grail of golf courses in Scotland. “You had to prebook months prior to play at this golf course and then a ballot gets drawn - Brian was lucky to get a chance to play - and it turned out that the person he was playing against was another Australian!” Pauline said, laughing.
Pauline took Brian to England for the British Open, and they also visited Ireland and Wales. In Ireland, one of Brian’s favourite things was kissing the Blarney Stone. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of the gab. They travelled around for just over 7 weeks and then continued on to America and Hawaii.
Apart from golf, Brian’s other favourite pastime was growing bonsai trees. He even built his own hot house where he could spend time working on them. He would cultivate them and had grown many over the years. A friend's son, who is also into bonsai, is looking after them now.
Another joy in Brian’s life was the Citizens Military Force (CMF). His brothers were in it at different times, so Brian decided to join. He was there for quite a few years and loved every minute of it. “Brian was part of the Royal Australian Electrical Engineers, even though he wasn’t an electrician. He was more like a mechanic and helped fix the trucks. He also drove trucks and would be the person to go and retrieve any army trucks that had gone over a cliff, using one of their big retrieval trucks,” explained Pauline.
Pauline described Brian as a very good man - very caring and respectful of everyone. She said he was always someone who led by example and that was how he brought his kids up. “He was so quietly spoken that for years he never really started conversations with people. He may have been quiet and unassuming, but he got on well with everyone.”
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