Death of Geoff Duncan
Geoffrey Arthur Duncan, formerly of Warragul died on April 26.
He was born on September 7, 1943 to Artie and Edna Duncan of Bona Vista Road, Warragul. As Artie was serving in the Air Force in World War II, Geoff did not meet his father until the age of two.
Artie, Edna, Geoff and Geoff’s younger brother Robert (Bob) lived on the family farm in Warragul.
After the war Artie returned to farming and developed a cattle trading business with his brothers Jim and Bob. Geoff and brother Bob spent a great deal of time with their cousins Judy and Bill - the children of Jim and Jean. A closeknit family, Judy fondly recalls the cousins spending hours riding ponies in the paddocks.
Geoff attended Warragul Primary School and Warragul High School. It was at school that Geoff’s passion for sport became starkly apparent. Playing as many sports as he could, Geoff was an excellent footballer until a serious knee injury at the age of 15 put paid to any ambitions in that arena. This misfortune was probably a catalyst for his increased focus on golf which was to become a lifelong passion and pastime.
While he did not describe himself as an outstanding student, in 1961 Geoff was elected prefect and school captain at Warragul High School. He completed a very respectable matriculation year despite suffering from a serious bout of meningitis. Friendships he developed at school endured throughout his life with Lynton Wilkinson, Geoff Davidson, Bob Veitch, Murray Bell and Don McLean among those who remained close to his heart.
Geoff met Sue Johnson at the age of 19. There was an obvious spark between the two but this stage of Geoff’s life was not necessarily suited to romantic pursuits. Weekend drives to various golf tournaments across the state were preferred to social events and local dances. However, eventually Geoff managed a balance between his love of Sue and his love of golf, and the pair married in 1969.
Sue and Geoff initially lived in Banksia Street, Warragul and in 1970 their first daughter AnnMaree was born. Andrew was to follow in 1971. Having two young children did not thwart Geoff’s golfing prowess as he managed to win two of his seven Warragul Golf Club club championships in these two years.
Geoff was a leading amateur golfer in Gippsland. As well as his club championships, he played top level pennant for 25 years, was a 10-time country week representative and in 1968 was crowned Gippsland champion.
Such was his humility, one would never hear Geoff volunteer such information. Prior to his move to Melbourne, Geoff also joined Trafalgar Golf Club for a time and represented them in division one pennant.
Louise was born in 1975 and Caroline in 1981 making up the family of six. After a stint in Normanby Street, in 1978 Geoff and Sue built a new family home in Cason Crescent - the site of the family farm.
With a young and growing family, life was very busy for Sue but Geoff made it a habit that he would come home for lunch every day, perhaps for his own as much as Sue’s sanity. This routine continued for his working life and Geoff would often bring clients to share the ritual, usually without warning the caterer (Sue) at home. Clients such as Dan Minogue and Phil Malcolm were welcomed to these lunches and became longtime family friends.
In the early 70s Geoff made what was to be a pivotal career move by moving from his first job in the accounting sphere with Pat Ruth, to join Gordon Gill and Lindsay Patison at Patison Partners. The partnership evolved over time with Duncan Smith, Michael Sheppard, Ian Watson and Howard Sharman joining the partnership in this period.
Other key staff during Geoff’s tenure included Michael Vick, Heather McCarthy, Helen Walkinshaw, Yvonne Pike, Ron Hogan and Zvonko Maric.
Geoff became a trusted accountant, mentor and friend to countless people in the district. He was a good man to have in a crisis and was widely respected for his integrity.
Geoff helped clients through both good and difficult times and many of these would ultimately become lifelong friends - including the Cunninghams, Jack Hallet, Barry Baker, Ivan Walkinshaw, Ian Sowerby, Gary Blackwood, Peter Gibbon, Lee Thaw, Geoff Payne and Andrew Connelly.
Geoff and Sue were social and welcoming hosts and they enjoyed many good times with their friends such as Robyn and Bill Byrne, Marie and Bob Veitch, Sue and Geoff Davidson, Moira and John Daniels, Kerry and Ray Costello, Ken and Sue Rogers and Maree and Phonse Cunningham.
As the children grew, a keen interest in tennis developed for the entire family. Geoff took up the roles of coach, taxi driver, volunteer and even doubles partner. Due in part to Geoff’s very competitive spirit these family hit outs did not always go so smoothly. He was certainly not of the school that believed it was good for a kid's confidence to give them an easy win. There were no participation awards from Geoffrey.
With a tennis court built at Cason Crescent many new friendships were formed with the Armstrongs, Rowes and Robbins’ often in attendance. The house became a second home for many of the Duncan kid’s friends.
As well as his participation in golf and tennis, Geoff’s generous spirit was always evident, with volunteering and community service an important part of his life. Among many roles, Geoff was treasurer and committee member for the Warragul Golf Club, a Fairview Homes board member, junior tennis coordinator, Warragul Technical School counsellor and Warragul Basketball Association tribunal member. When he and Sue moved to Melbourne in later years he joined Commonwealth Golf Club and was an assistant manager of the club’s pennant team. He also successfully managed the Colts (juniors) team to a division one premiership - a role that he found particularly rewarding.
Geoff’s parents both died in the early 1990s and with no one in the family particularly interested in farming, he and Bob subdivided the family farm. This project sparked a new passion for Geoff and with his friend Ken Rogers, he established the development company Clayline which played a large part in the growth of the Trafalgar township during the early 2000’s.
In the late 90s, with Sue’s parents Bernie and Margaret moving to Queensland and the kids one by one moving to Melbourne, Geoff and Sue decided to make a move themselves, settling in Albert Park in 2000. It was here they enjoyed a new phase of life, meeting new friends such as Pat and Dianne Keenan, Jenny and Ren Falla and reconnected with some old ones as well.
Geoff and Sue took great satisfaction in their kids establishing their own families and during this time became grandparents of 10.
As retirement, or more accurately semi-retirement took hold, Geoff and Sue developed the travel bug and made a number of overseas trips with Phil Malcolm, the Rowes and Pat and Dianne - itineraries carefully coordinated not to clash with the arrival of a new grandchild.
Their immediate community of Bridport Street West in Albert Park became of great importance to Geoff and Sue. Geoff was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2014 and the local community was of huge support in the ensuing years. People in the street looked out for Geoff as he went on his daily strolls and he and Sue developed strong friendships with their neighbours. Their friends Pat and Dianne were supportive right until the very end with Pat going above and beyond for his mate.
Geoff and Sue continued to live in Albert Park until 2019 when his condition necessitated that he move to the Emerald Hill Residence not far from their home in Albert Park. As he had conducted himself his whole life, Geoff handled these years with great dignity and humour.
Geoff died on Sunday, April 26. Due to the current COVID crisis, a small funeral was held on Saturday, May 2. Geoff and Sue's extended family and friends were able to watch the service online as he was honoured in a most befitting manner.
Geoff is survived by his wife Sue, children AnnMaree, Andrew, Louise and Caroline, and their partners Andrew, Allison, James and Tom as well as grandchildren Angus, Luke, Will, Alex, Milly, Anna, Victoria, Charlie, Joel and Abby.
In his eulogy to his father, Andrew mentioned a favourite golf saying of Geoff’s, that, “the harder I practice, the luckier I get,” meaning that you tend to get out of life what you put into it. It is true that Geoff Duncan had a fortunate life, but even truer that he created a lot of that fortune himself.