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Vale Dr John Mathieson
Vale John Mathieson When Dr John Mathieson passed away in April, the WA Matho dental community lost a well-loved and respected member.
A good friend, respected practitioner and talented man – Dr John Mathieson was a loved member of the WA dental community. John’s sister, Carol Bailey, gave the following insight into his childhood and teenage years: “Named after his father (who finished his career as Commonwealth Director of Health for WA), John was born on February 17, 1940, in Perth to his mother
Madeline Mary Mathieson (née Clark). His only sibling,
Carol, was born two and a half years later. Childhood years were spent in Watson’s Bay and later Canberra. With a population at that stage of just 28,000, Canberra was fairly undeveloped, lots of empty paddocks, open drains/sewers visible; a good place for a young lad who relished the outdoors and could roam on his bike with his mates. And there were plenty of attractions to entice his friends – bow and arrows, spears, 22-rifle, even a 9-foot spear his father had brought back from
New Guinea.
“Teenage years saw John in London, where his father had been transferred as Chief Medical Office of Australia
House. Exciting times, travelling to England by ship in 1954 and seeing the wider world, the excitement of London so soon after the Coronation, and then school trips to Belgium and Rome.
"John took his Catholic religion seriously as a youngster, but he also had a mind of his own, such as refusing at age 12 to take the pledge at confirmation to not drink till 21. Strength of will and determination as well as generosity were major characteristics.”
Cliff Owen first met John at Aquinas College around 1959. “His first words to me were ‘G’day mate – my name’s Digger.’ He was talking in a Pommy accent, and I thought: ‘What the hell do we have here?’ We formed quite a firm friendship.”
After finishing at Aquinas, John chose to study dentistry and formed solid friendships that lasted a lifetime.
“Over uni holiday breaks, some of us worked the country wheat bins and Matho would somehow find me, shouldering a huge smile and swag,” recalls Brian Bamford. “After swapping loads of lies and downing many tinnies, in the early morning, he would be gone just as quickly as he appeared.”
It was during John’s university years that he met his wife Lyn on a blind date, and their subsequent engagement was noted in the Matrix of John’s graduating year:
“Freud would love him for the one loves guns and the other knows why. He claims it’s a Robin Hood complex, and a bent for pest control. This quick on-the-draw gent should have no trouble in exodontia. He has a slim, svelte female friend, with a diamond bedecked left hand. On important occasions, he takes his spurs off, but leaves his boots on.”
After graduating, John worked in the Bunbury Dental Clinic, before setting up his own practice in Bunbury.
“As a dentist, John was incredibly well-respected,” Cliff says. “He was very much a mentor to young and old.
He was also well-respected by his patients. He was very meticulous and unbeknown to most folks, he worked in conjunction with nuns in the south-west, who would run into a family down on their luck who could not get into the dental hospital for six months or so, and would ask John if he could help. He gave away a lot of dentistry to the underprivileged and was always very generous with his skills.”
John was also involved in setting up the South West Dental Convocation, an education and social group for dentists in the south-west, in 1972. “Bunbury is a
long way from Perth, so a group of local dentists got together, and we would get lecturers down here to give us a talk and that sort of thing,” Cliff recalls.
As well as being a respected practitioner, outside of dentistry, John was an accomplished shooter. A longtime member of the Bunbury Pistol Club, John was the first WA team member to win gold at an Australian
Nationals when he won the Rapid Fire event in 1969. He held the Western Australian State Record for Pistol Shooting in the Rapid Fire event for some years with a score of 586 (out of a possible 600 points).Some of his shooting exploits also included: • An Australian Team Member 1970 Shotgun Shooting Team in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. • An Australian Team Member 1974 Pistol Shooting Team in Bern-Thun, Switzerland. • Team Member in various Western Australian State Shotgun shooting teams. • Team Member in various Western Australian State Pistol shooting teams. • Western Australian Pistol Shooting State Coach in various years.
He was involved over a number of years in Safe Gun Handling courses at a local high school in Bunbury during the 1980s, facilitating the students to experience shooting a variety of rifles and shotguns in a controlled and fun environment.
He was a recipient of Western Australian, Southwest Sports Star of the Year Award. He was recipient of a national award for his contribution to the sport of shooting in Australia. “He was always interested in guns and liked making things go bang,” Cliff laughs.
Fishing was also a passion for John. “Once he threw a line in the water, he just took it on hand over first,” Cliff recalls. “He tried every sort of fishing you could think of – from black bream fishing to catching marlin. He knew rods and reels and intricate details about fishing lines – he was a real details man.” He went on many memorable fishing trips with his dental colleagues and friends. “One time we were camping north of Carnarvon, and it was my job to look after the little generator and it wasn’t behaving,” Cliff says. “I was getting very cross and in his quiet, docile tones, John said: ‘Did you turn the petrol on?’ Of course, that was very cheeky, and I gave him a mouthful of abuse, but he was right,” Cliff laughs.
John’s tendency to remain cool, calm and collected was apparent during various other fishing trips.
“Like others on a fishing trip to Peron Station, Matho failed to heed King Canute’s warning and arrived back after fishing on the first day to find the camp afloat,” recalls Rob Bower. “Unlike the rest, John’s solution was to sit in a deck chair with water up to his ankles and have a civilised scotch before heading to higher ground. We immediately saw the wisdom in his example and joined him.”
It is clear John will be missed by many. John passed away in April, aged 81 years. Sympathies to his wife Lyn, children Scott, Craig and Stacey and families.
