Darren Hamilton Room Life Member since 1964

We are saddened to learn of the passing of Darren Room on 27th December 2022. Darren had been a familiar face at Graduate House for many years and will be remembered fondly by all of us. A regular attendee of our collegiate events, he was always friendly and generous with his greetings and smiles. Wednesdays roast and vegetables was his favourite menu and he would come in most WednesdaysW, often bringing family members and friends with him. He also enjoyed the Christmas in July lunches and came in nearly every week in July and December.

Darren Room was born in Elsternwick, Victoria in 1936. He started school at St Leonards College. In those days, travelling was simpler and Darren made train trips to the Melbourne Show Grounds by train when he was three years old. During those train rides, words were spreading about the outbreak of war. Soon after, twhere were news that the armies were spreading towards South East Asia and it was a matter of time before their invasion into Australia.

Darren was moved to Tasmania for safety reasons and remained there till 1943 and then moved back to Melbourne and resumed his studies at Hampton Primary School. In 1947, his family moved to Tasmania and Darren attended Devonport High School in Tasmania and onwards to The University of Tasmania where he obtained his Arts degree. After graduation, Darren moved back to Melbourne and started work with the Commonwealth Government at the Department of Defence. In 1958, the Department relocated to Canberra and, wanting to remain in Melbourne, Darren joined the State Public Service. His role at the time of joining was a Probation and Parole Service Officer.

Darren had various roles in the Public Service including Deputy Director of Correctional Services and had also been responsible for the Children’s Court Probation

Services. He worked in the State Public Service until his retirement in 1991.

Since retirement, Darren resumed his hobby of studying railway and public transport. He was a lifetime member of Puffing Billy Preservation Society (PBPS), a group that helps contribute to policy making through voting for the Executive and running of the railways in Australia.

Having always been a man of two wheels, Darren pursued his passion for cycling and motor biking. He owned many two-wheeled vehicles ranging from bicycles to motorbikes like the Honda Gold Wing. Joining his buddies from the touring club, they rode their bikes to many places interstate including to and from Darwin, Perth, Cairns and Tasmania.

Darren made many road trips to the United States of America (USA) and the hospitable members of the Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA) would meet him at designated points to show him around the country and they would tour various states from California to Denver, Colorado and Utah. Darren visited the USA six times.

In later years, due to some back injury, Darren stopped riding his motorbikes and moved around with his push bikes, taking shorter trips at a time. He lived in South Yarra and that made it very convenient for him to get to the city and other places in Victoria. Darren enjoyed riding to Graduate House to attend functions and lunches, though on wet days he would use public transport.

Darren will be sorely missed. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to be a small part of his full and joyful existence.

Rest In peace, Darren.