Honouring a top Scout
A GEELONG stalwart of the scouting movement has been remembered as a dedicated volunteer, family man and devoted friend with a vivacious personality.
Albert Mattingley, 83, died on November 23 after a short illness.
Mr Mattingley was born in Geelong on April 18, 1935.
At his funeral, daughter Lisa reflected that “life as a child was not always easy for Dad”.
He contracted diphtheria and his father Charlie enlisted for World War II in 1940, only to be captured and dying as a prisoner of war on the Burma Railway in 1943.
But his family and the Australian Army and did not learn of his death until September 1944, Ms Mattingley said, and he was not officially listed as dead until March 1945.
In her eulogy, Ms Mattingley said the difficult ALBERT MATTINGLEY 1935-2018 time her father faced during the war helped create an “unbreakable bond” with his brother Bruce.
Their mother remarried, and Mr Mattingley became involved in the Scouts after discovering a hall near their Geelong West home.
“Dad loved Scouts and so began a lifelong commitment, a way of life that he embraced and, as a family, became our life too,” Ms Mattingley said.
Mr Mattingley completed all a the requirements for the King’s Scout Award when he was 17. But King George VI died, meaning Mr Mattingley w was one of the first scouts in th the area to become a Queen’s S Scout.
In 1953, he was a member of th the Australian Scout c contingent that attended Q Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in England.
Ms Mattingley said the Geelong G Advertiser and G Geelong Legacy Club ran a fu fundraising campaign to help him get there and he took a month-long trip by sea.
“What an incredible experience for a young man who left school at 14 to help support the family and had never really left Geelong,” she said.
Mr Mattingley was required to do National Service upon his return, and returned to Scouts afterwards. He also worked with the State Electricity Commission for 35 years.
Mr Mattingley received a 60-year service scouting award in 2016, and Ms Mattingley said he was still discussing how special the scouting movement was with nurses in his final days.
Mr Mattingley was awarded many honours during his involvement with the Scouts.
As well as being passionate about the Scouts, he was a devoted family man and friend.
He married his beloved wife Norma in 1957 and adored his two children, his grandchildren and greatgrandchildren.
About 200 people attended his funeral in Geelong West on November 30.