Jeff is one of our very active clubmen joining WOSP in 2011 and taking on a variety of roles – Session Leader for Toys for 6 years, a committee man to Treasurer (for four years) – the organiser of the WOSP involvement in the Bunnings BBQs for some 5 years. Jeff continues to be active on the Committee. He also volunteers two days a week (behind the scenes) at the Rye Beach Op Shop where he repairs and restores various items that can then be sold by the shop. Jeff also acquires many items and timber that can be useful for our WOSP club.

When it comes to woodworking, Jeff subscribes to the philosophy of ‘Pass on the knowledge’. This applies to both his acquisition of new skills from research and interacting with other members and trade people. He then passes this knowledge on to others. Then there’s all the contacts Jeff has built while living in Rye. He is certainly well known in the area.

Jeff’s story started some 72 years ago, on a farm near Finley, a town in the NSW Riverina region and some 140 Km west of Albury. Finley has produced many great AFL players such as Jack Hawkins, Shane Crawford and Tom Hawkins. Jeff’s Great Great Grandparents immigrated from Ireland in late 1800s and settled in Euroa. His Grandparents moved to the Finley area in the early 1920s. Jeff grew up on the farm where he acquired his passion for fixing things and manual skills, always pulling things apart to learn how they worked and then repairing them. Motor bikes and farm machinery were among his interests. At the age of 13 years, Jeff joined some 55 other boarders (mainly country boys like himself) at Ivanhoe Grammar. Due to the time needed to travel to/from Ivanhoe and Finley, Jeff’s visits home were restricted mainly to long weekends. This had its benefits such as it gave him time to catch The Beatles at the Southern Cross Hotel in June 1964 and attend Tiger Football matches at the MCG.

A Degree in Business Studies at Swinburne University followed – majoring in Information Technology. The business studies component of this course enabled Jeff to qualify as a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA) – something that was to prove useful later.

Jeff’s first job was in the then Federal Department of Works – joining in 1968 at the Stores Branch in Port Melbourne. Two years later, Jeff was promoted to the federal Department of Supply transitioning to Defense sometime later. It was in here that Jeff acquired a substantial knowledge of manufacturing procedures and tools as one of his roles was visiting all the defense manufacturing factories and researching their machine cutting tools so as these could be subsequently identified in the Defense Cataloguing

System. Another role was the evaluation of equipment for subsequent purchase by government departments. Progression in his studies led to a promotion to the computing and Systems branch as a Cobol programmer with involvement in personnel, manufacturing and finance systems. After some 18 years, Jeff had risen through the ranks to be the Assistant Director of Business and Finance Systems reporting directly to Canberra. He was now managing the implementation of computing financial systems supplied by MSA (this company was later acquired by D&B Software Services) into defense manufacturing supply factories. It was during this time (1987 to be precise), Jeff qualifies as a registered Tax Agent – something quite novel at the time for a Public Servant. Canberra beckoned but Jeff and his family were not interested in such a move. The solution – a move to MSA as Project Manager installing the MSA software at enterprises such as Honda, Kraft, Kodak, Vic Police, Monsanto and Telstra.

By 1990, Jeff moved to self-employment as a Consultant Project Manager – till the year 2000. This included 8 years at Telstra on HR systems and producing financial information for the Telstra Board Financial reports. A stint at Huntsman Corporation (chemical manufacturer) where he managed their Y2K (Year 2000) project and setup their GST reporting systems to interface with their in-house computer systems.

In addition to his other work, his Tax Agent work was rapidly expanding. In the year 2000, this practice had built to upward of a thousand clients – some 500 or so being Plumbers. One could say that he had a reputation among plumbers and other tradies and made it his business to familiarise himself with all their work requirements and tax deductions. By 2017, a break was needed so Jeff cut back on the Tax work and transitioned towards retirement.

In 1987, while living in Glen Waverley (close to Highvale High School), Jeff had purchased a holiday house in Rye. This house was built to lockup stage and Jeff completed the building of the house. This is now his permanent residence and with the requirement for more workspace Jeff has added a further garage which is his dedicated woodwork workshop. Under a cover in the garage and bearing Club Plates is a 1977 MG B – fully restored by Jeff – plus converted to right hand drive. There are many other projects that keep him busy.