Life is changed not ended

Ronald Gary Armstrong

Entered eternal life 26 February 2021

By Sue Armstrong, Gary’s wife

Gary was born in Benalla and had his early schooling in South Caulfield when the family transferred there for work.  Soon after, the family moved to Hood Street in North Balwyn in order to build their own house and so Gary finished his primary schooling at St Bede’s, North Balwyn.  His secondary schooling was at CBC in East Melbourne, now a part of Parade College.

Immediately after completing his Leaving Certificate, Gary sat the Public Service Exam and so began a career in the Public Service, interrupted only by his time in the military.  He did two years’ full time National Service Training in the Army, and was appointed to the Medical Corps and trained as a Medical Assistant in a Field Hospital.  Basic training was at Puckapunyal and then he moved to the Barracks and Military Hospital near Brisbane.  Gary’s own anecdotes, of feedback on his ability to perform painless injections indicated that a return to public service, rather than a career in the medical profession, would be a better option.

Gary’s first tenure in the public service was with the Land Tax Office and he was often heard lamenting, with hindsight, on opportunities lost given today’s property prices!  He also served with the Teacher Education Branch followed by several years as a member of the committee of Technical Classifiers during which time he was seconded to the Prime Ministers Department in Canberra as registrar on the committee on Overseas Professional Qualifications.  Then he moved on to become Registrar for several divisions including the Victorian Teaching Service Appeals Board, the Technical Appointments Board in the Victorian Department of Education and the Victorian TAFE Registration Board.  His career path then saw him appointed as Personnel Officer in the State Training Board personnel branch.  Finally, from 1995 until his first retirement in 2002, Gary was Curriculum Officer responsible for program support for vocational and training programs in the TAFE sector.

Gary wasn’t retired long as he was head hunted back for his unique expertise.  However, he chose to work casually, undertaking various work assignments in the TAFE sector.  He retired again just before he had to undertake treatment for his bladder cancer.  By this time Gary had more than 50 years’ service with the State Public Sector – plenty of opportunity to enjoy many a long lunch at the expense of Victoria’s tax-payers!

Enough of work – now for Gary’s great loves.

He loved a chat!

He loved his family.  He was always in touch or catching up with family members.  Never missed a family function.  He dined out with his brother Rob every week enjoying a bottle of Rob’s red.  He went to the footy with his brother, cousin and nephew.  He was very proud of his nephews and nieces and followed their progress with interest from their baby years through to adulthood and always had time to listen to their latest exploits.

He loved a chat!

He loved his sport. Gary was a schoolboy champion in tennis and played pennant in the Lawn Tennis Association of Victoria teams.  He was on the social committee of the LTAV and organised many successful socials for them.  (Not sure if that took up more time than playing!)  He rode with Bicycle Victoria on many of their annual week-long trips.  He skied in the Winter months with friends who would gather together in a chalet on Mt Hotham.  Gary swam as a young man in the City Baths and in later years in the Kew Recreation Centre.  He liked to swim a lap for each year of his life.  I remember thinking this could take a while – we should check the venue closing time.  Gary liked running and, rather than constantly beating the pavement he ran the boundary for his amateur footy team West Brunswick.  He spent a lot of time on their committee helping with administration, but I think his favourite job was manning the bar on footy day.  Gary’s other big love was Hawthorn.  He was a member for many years and enjoyed going to the games with family and friends. Gary was a model spectator unless the umpire gave a decision against one of his players!  He would get in such a state at times he looked like he would have a heart attack.

He loved a chat!

Gary loved travelling. However, I couldn’t get him to travel to Europe for a long time until I realised, he was worried that he didn’t speak a second language.  He couldn’t possibly be in a country for 5 or 6 weeks without talking to someone.  So, we settled on an English-speaking bus tour and he immediately made 45 new friends.  Gary was notorious for leaving behind his valuables.  On his very first trip to Paris, he lost his bag in the airport bathroom.  His explanation was that he got distracted with the unisex facilities!

He loved a chat!

Gary loved reading.  Just about everything he read was non-fiction so he could add to his encyclopaedic knowledge.  Never missed reading letters to the editor in the newspaper to see what people were talking about.  Reading about boats was a big interest.  He could give you lots of unimportant information on the provenance, tonnage and movements of any boat.  Not so vitally interesting when you just wanted to relax and enjoy a cruise but may have proved useful to ASIO in a time of crisis!

He loved a chat!

Gary loved his garden.  He would spend an inordinate amount of time on the nature strip.  It took me a while to realise that when he started up the whipper snipper this was notice to the neighbours to come and have a chat.  Same applied to the blower down the driveway.  All useful garden tools but their alternate use was a call to arms to the neighbours!

He loved a chat!

Gary loved his food.  He never said no to an invitation to his mother in law Marie’s or either to of his sister Julie or his sister in law Julie.  He was happy to eat a delicious meal and then take home the leftovers.  He always maintained that it was the alcohol that caused his waistline to spread.  Gary once went on a diet that allowed him to drink but he had to walk a kilometre for each drink he consumed.  We wore out a lot of shoe leather and couldn’t find enough hours in the day.  Gary also enjoyed cooking his own meals.  He always heeded his mother’s advice which was: “Don’t waste the heat in the oven.  If you’re cooking a meal there’s always enough heat left to bake a pie for dessert”!

Gary loved people.  He especially liked a celebrity or a dignitary.  He could dine out on those stories for a long time.  As you would expect Gary’s chatty personality gave rise to excellent customer service skills when he was at work. In his early days Gary organised dances and discos for his local youth groups, which also helped establish the success of several artists, including Olivia Newton John, and the dances became quite famous with the locals.  Gary was truly interested in everyone he met.  He would interrogate you until he found someone, somewhere or something he could relate to you with.  He was open to anyone and everyone. He made everyone feel comfortable and included. This was such a unique quality and a special gift.  Gary had a gregarious nature, a huge personality, enjoyed life to the full and always had a smile for you.

That’s Gary!