Patrick’s formative years were spent in Kilmore, just north of Melbourne. His mother’s family came from straight Irish stock and some traits seemed to have filtered down, as he had an abiding interest in family Irish connections, music, and Ned Kelly. From Kilmore they moved to Kyabram, Bridgwater on the Loddon and then to Deakin Canberra in 1958.
Upon leaving school Patrick joined the public service and worked in the Department of Trade and Tariff and studied a apart time (BA degree) at ANU. He did not sit comfortably in the bureaucracy. However, he was distracted there as he was conscripted for national service – it meant two years in the army including service in Vietnam. Before going to Vietnam, Patrick had six months army training a Puckapunyal. He told some very funny stories about basic training at Puckapunyal. He was allocated to Artillery and posted to 4th Field Regiment in Vietnam in November 1967. Pat joined 108th Field Battery in Vietnam and initially was employed on the gun line. He also did some time in a Forward Observer party with then Captain Dennis Moore, allocated to “B” Company of 2nd Battalion RAR. During his time in Vietnam, Pat was able to fit in some R and R in Hong Kong – another great adventure for him.
Pat returned to Australia and Canberra, in May 1968. Here he met Kaye at the ANU. She encouraged a career change and Patrick left the public service and studied to be a high school teacher. They married and had three lovely girls. While a high school teacher in the 80’s, he and Kaye took posts to the aboriginal community at Yirrakala in the Northern Territory. This was a great career highlight and they formed strong and true friends. Eventually they returned to Canberra, and he moved from high school to TAFE teaching, from which he eventually retired.
Physical training was always part of Patrick’s life – canoeing, fun running, hiking, travel and in later years, bike riding and walking. His bucket list was to ride his pushbike from Canberra to Melbourne – on the highway! He did it when he was in his 70s – a remarkable achievement.
One of his great loves was red wine – shiraz. He was very disciplined in food and exercise. He loved the red wine but it did not love him. One of his brave achievements was to cut back and almost completely cut out his intake of shiraz.
Good friends always buoyed him, and they were a great support to him. Patrick’s daughters, Natalie, Katie and Jane and their husbands, his sisters and laws and their husbands, grandchildren and nieces and nephews loved him greatly and will miss him. In particular, Kay had done everything and more for him over the last four or five years. For Patrick, she was a real saint. Pat had battled Leukemia for close to ten years and later developed a brain tumor. This was successfully operated on, but he then caught pneumonia which was fatal.
In some respects, his life was unremarkable, but his war experience, his education, a successful career, having a wonderful wife who inspired him, raising a family of wonderful girls who loved and still loved him – is a huge and rewarding achievement.
Acknowledgements:
• Extracted from a short history of Patrick’s life, by John O’Hara, Patrick’s brother.
• John Wells, OAM editor of the 108th Battery Association’s “The Journal with No Name”
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