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John Palmer Williamson
b.31 May 1923 East Maitland, , New South Wales, Australia
Family tree▼ (edit)
m. 2 Sep 1922
Facts and Events
(Medical):Eulogy - John Palmer Williamson Good afternoon. My name is Chris Lee, I am married to the youngest of John's children, Sarah. The family has asked me to speak on their behalf today. It is such a difficult time for all John's family and friends and I would like to start by expressing the family's deepest gratitude for all your kind words and support. John was born on May 1923, in East Maitland NSW, the first child of John and Rita Williamson. He had two sisters, Dorothy and Margaret. As a preschooler John would travel with his father by car amongst the timer workers in the mountain ranges behind Newcastle. He loved these moments with his father and being able to view a homestead at a distance between his thumb and finger when the homestead was so large and his fingers so small. His painter's eye for a picturesque scene began early on in his life. John's father's career as a Mechanical Engineer meant many relocations and John had to fit in to many different schools. This no doubt helped forge his legendary people skills. During high school John became fascinated with electricity, radio, model making and "making things". At the same time he was involved in camping, hunting (with a rifle) and wander through the bush around Wagga with his dog. At the age of 15 John's father sent him off to Sydney to pre- arranged lodging and an apprenticeship in Fitting and Machining. These were extremely hard times for John after his idyllic rural existence as a boy. Suddenly he found himself living in the slums of Sydney, always desperately short of money and struggling to fit in at a large factory. Nonetheless he studied four nights a week and Saturday mornings, on and off for 11 years for his Engineering Degree, and by the time he qualified he was a supervisor in his day job, which is a testament to his dedication and commitment. These were also the "war years" and John's father was very anxious to be involved in the "war effort" so he closed his business in Wagga and moved to Sydney. John was very relieved to move out of his boarding house and back into the family home. After some years John's parents bought a house in Northbridge with large double garage at the rear of the property. John took this over, brought a lathe, milling machine, grinding machine etc and started a tool making business. This flourished and was quite exciting for him but totally exhausting, spending much of the day with clients and most of the night making tools for them. John was later to be asked by one his clients to manage their tool room which he accepted. John went dancing every Saturday night and every weekend he would go sailing on Sydney harbour. His other weekend activities included bush walking, camping, push bike and motor bike riding. These were still the "war years" and John's mother billeted overseas and Australian service men on leave. As such there were always very interesting and entertaining young people in their home. Sing along's around the Pianola and crowded meal tables were a feature. John described them as always well behaved and a lot of fun. These times were very special to John and he felt that the invention of television robbed him of the opportunity to recreate them later in life. At 21 John met and married his first wife Florence. They had one child together, Christine. After a few years John was offered a job at a very large factory in Orange. He started as Assistant Foreman of the machine shop and was soon promoted to Superintendent of Engineering, responsible for about 300 people. During this time John was involved in the formation of the Orange Sailing Club. He was interviewed on radio promoting the club and helped organise a Regatta which attracted competitors from all over Australia, for which he was very proud. After five or six years at Orange the iconic "Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme" began and John was given the opportunity of joining it as chief engineer for the Norwegian contractors, Selmer constructing the first tunnel, John found this very interesting (and exciting) and his remarkable ability to get along with anybody earned him the respect of the workers despite a significant language barrier. When the Snowy Mountains contract ended John took up a position as machine shop manager and some six years later he resigned this position to become Manufacturing Manager of Marshal Batteries. John enjoyed this position very much but due to the highly political environment he decided to resign and fulfil his dream of going to sea as a Marine Engineer as his father had done before him. This position was to take him to see the world, including exotic parts of Asia, at a time when international tourist were not as commonplace as they are now and he found it very exciting. He fondly reminisced of watching the sun appear out of the water and then in the evening, watching the ocean swallow it up again without any land to obscure the sincere he always had a wonder and respect of nature and a poetic way of telling stories of the past. Later John transferred to coastal shipping so that he could spend more time with his family but the marriage did not survive. John returned to industrial management and later married his second wife Judith. They had three children together, Sandra, Mark and Paul and eventually moved to Rockhampton. Sadly again the marriage did not work out. Through his work in Rockhampton John met Glenys, who was to become the great love of his life, and wife of nearly 40 years. In the week leading up to their marriage they were traveling from Sydney back to Rockhampton for the wedding when they came accross sever flooding in northern NSW with water so deep that there were cars banked up, unable to get through. With John's inherent optimism he ignored all this and drove on through the water despite not being able to see the road, to the amazement of police at the other end. This was a true indication of John's unwavering belief that everything will turn out alright if you want it badly enough. Over the next several years John and Glenys had three children, Steven born in Ballarat in May 1970, Kylie born in Coffs Harbour in March 1971 and Sarah born in Dandenong in March 1976, and eventually they settled inBallarat to raise their children. John loved Ballarat from the moment he arrived, although it took Glenys as a Queenslander suffering through her first couple of Ballarat winters a little bit longer to feel the same way. Ballarat became the place where John was to spend the rest of his life. Over the years John's standing in the Ballarat community became more and more important to him. After he retired from his position as Chief Engineer at Selkirk Brick, he worked in two senior mining positions until 1991. It was at this time he volunteered his services at Lakeside Psychiatric Hospital during a nurse's strike. He had finally found a career that allowed him to fulfill his need of bettering people's lives. This is what set him apart from most. The people he worked with were never referred to as clients - they were his friends, and they loved and adored him in return. The fact that John made himself available to his clients outside of adored, putting adored needs before his own, highlighted his unselfish nature. Even when his cancer was in its final stages, and he was the one needing support, he was still providing emotional support to his previous clients. He continued to work as a carer right up until the very last moment he was able, because he felt it was important to give something back to the community. This was not the first time he had been involved in this way though, as he was a Rotarian and a life Governor of the Spastic Society of Victoria. Throughout John's career in industrial management he was always involved in some activity assisting those less fortunate and this gave him a great deal of satisfaction. John's cheeky sense of humour stayed with him right through to his last days. shuffling down the hospital corridor with a young female nurse on each arm he was heard to say with a grin on his face "Dying is such hard work..." Even when he could no longer walk and could barely stand, he had to stand next to the bed while it was being made when a nurse turn to him and said "Now stand there a minute John and do a little dance for us" With a dead- pan expression on his face he proceeded to move his body as much as was capable to impress the nurses with a little jig. This trademark of Johns, of not taking himself to seriously was part of his natural charm. This is how we remember John. But perhaps the best insight into the person John was is to be found in a piece he wrote about himself entitled "Me" "Me" 2/10/86 I guess I'm a strange person - I need people more than most but I need to be alone too! I live for today and have great hopes for tomorrow but at this same time I do enjoy looking back at the past pattern of my life. It seems to have had such beauty and himself. This quality of my life makes me feel so indebted to every single person that I have met, even those who have tried to injure me. This indebtedness presses me to a need to help people, which in turn frustrates me because I'm not really very good at helping people in a way they can accept. I suppose I should say that people fascinate me. It is a crass thing to say but I enjoy people. I many times wish they enjoyed me more. I am a very spontaneous person with regard to the decisions that have shaped my life. I remember making a snap decision that took me to New Zealand instead of America. I guess my tendency to embrace every opportunity for a new experience or a new challenge has also had a profound effect on the course of my life. I have had no time for 'wingers'. The only regrets that I have are from the hurt that I have undoubtedly caused others though never with malicious intention. The End Adventurer, Sailor, Tinkerer, Painter, Lover of Life, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Friend - John Palmer Williamson, we will always remember you ..... Also read out his funeral was a poem found on his computer called "Attitude" "The longer I live, the more I realise the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past ... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. we cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you ... we are in charge of Attitudes." (Source Unknown) References
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