NEWS FROM GRAMMAR 2015

Launceston Grammar Prefects 1931 The Gang –
after school at Punchbowl (1925)
L-R – G Knight, Tommy Fraser, Jack Cuff,
Harley Smith, John Gunn, Geoff Smith,
Don Fraser
… all still well-dressed in their school
uniforms!!
Father Hugh (1864 - 1957)
with Don and Tommy in Grammar uniform
at Inverell (25 High St) 1923
REFLECTIONS ON
A LIFE FROM A SIMPLER TIME
(extracts from the eulogy given by his son Ian)
Don (aged 2 yrs), sister Alison and
brother Hugh Jr (Tommy) 1917
Above top: Learning the game –
grandfather Fred Butterworth, Ian,
Don (Approx 1954)
Three generations of Frasers - Donald, Ian and David
Zinc at Rosebery while studying, then as an accountant
with Nestle in NSW before enlisting in the RAAF.
THE WAR YEARS He flew “ferry missions” via Gibraltar
to Malta, then, based on Malta, torpedo bombers before
being shot down in March 1943. He spent the remainder
of the war as a PoW in Stalag Luft III, playing a minor
role in what became known as “The Great Escape” and
taking part in The Long March in January 1945.
After the war, he was appointed Company Secretary of
the new Burnie Australian Titanium Products plant where
he remained, becoming Managing Director in 1967, until
his retirement in 1975.
FAMILY He and Joan lived on the North West coast
with children Ian (Grammar, 1959 – 67 and teacher
1988 – 2009) and Sue. Ian’s children, Jenni, Robyn
and David attended Grammar between 1988 and 1996.
In 2012 Don returned to Launceston where he re-lived
fond memories of growing up on High St and Windmill
Hill wandering the paddocks of Newstead with Cuffs and
Smiths and Gunns and Gees and Greens.
DIED March 14, 2015 aged 100 years … and 2 days
“Dad was a very simple man - as in uncomplicated – there was certainly
nothing simple-minded about him. Perhaps shaped by his depression
upbringing and years as a Prisoner of War, he had simple tastes, he enjoyed
simple pleasures, and always looked for the simplest way to do things.
The simple tastes?
- food!!! - fruit, chocolate, potatoes, chops…more chocolate
- money! He lived by the motto, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”
- waste nothing – never throw anything away because it can always be
used again
And his simple pleasures?
- the outdoors – gardening and sport and simply walking
- sitting quietly, reading or listening to music puffing away at his pipe
- people of all sorts and from all backgrounds
He hated fuss, except if an attractive female was doing the fussing, and he
never swore, unless you count “Bloody oxalis” or “Blessed matches” when he
couldn’t light his pipe.
He was an ordinary man who lived an extraordinary life for an extraordinary
100 years. As such, he has lessons for us all - his capacity
- to take things in his stride
- to never dwell on past problems but always look forward to better,
happier times
- to treat people, even sometimes difficult people, with respect and grace
and humour,
- and to deal with life’s struggles in the same way.
And for allowing us to see the goodness and brightness and joy that he
brought into the lives of others – those who knew him hardly at all as well as
close family - just by simply being himself.”
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