Community News
100 th birthday celebration
J
ack Sheekey (OR28) is a remarkable man. One of the 15,000 Old Boys of this College still alive, he is the oldest having finished his schooling at Riverview 84 years ago and, on 7 June 2012, Jack turned 100. Jack, his daughter, Jill, and son in law, Lou, attended, and were honoured at, a College assembly on 6 June. When Jack was born on Friday 7 June 1912 in a small stone cottage in Yass, King George V, the current Queen’s grandfather, was on the throne of England. The population of Australia was only 4.5 million. He was one of seven children—he had six older sisters—and at the age of 13 he was sent to board at Riverview on a Bursary in February 1926. He was one of only 150 boys at Riverview that year but he quickly and consistently established himself as one of the
Military pride
A
Andrew Roberts (OR2010)
ndrew Roberts (OR2010) marched out on January 20 at Kapooka and was so proud and satisfied. I was able to take his younger brother
best academics at Riverview. He won prizes every year and in 1928, in the Intermediate exams, he was first in Maths, Latin, French and Greek, second in English and History and Dux of his year for the third consecutive year.
On 23 May Luca Pannozzo, of Year 5, turned 10—the youngest boy at Riverview; Jack is 100. Ninety years separate them but Riverview binds them with a link that spans the ages from the early days of the 20th century, perhaps into the 22nd century.
He was also good at Rugby, playing in an undefeated side in 1928 as a quick runner who played on the wing and scored plenty of tries.
James Rodgers, Associate to the Rector & Headmaster
Jack then worked for over 50 years in insurance companies and worked his way from the ground floor to managerial level. He married Jean Mary Monro in 1939—a marriage that lasted 60 years until his wife’s death in 1999. They lived at Bondi for most of that time. Just after his son, Michael, was born in 1942, Jack enlisted in the RAAF and served for four years as a Radio Operator in New Guinea. Jack has remained active all his life, playing competition tennis into his 80s. Retaining a great interest and care for other people, he served for many years with the St Vincent de Paul Society. He has a great sense of humour and he follows Riverview’s fortunes through the Ignatian magazine. He says that ‘Every day is the best day of his life’. The College is 132 years old and Jack is still a vital, sprightly, intrepid, resilient link to a past that is beyond the memory of most Australians today.
Nathan down and we were very glad to be there. We are so proud of him finishing school and now completing the first part of his army training. These were just dreams that seemed impossible when he came back down from Darwin in early 2008. It is a certainty that without the three years at Riverview and all that he gained there, Andrew would not be where he is now. He was on a
Jack Sheekey (OR28) and Luca Pannozzo, Year 5. Although they are separated by 90 years, they are bound together as members of the Riverview family
very different trajectory. Andrew’s platoon has now dispersed to different training bases for the next stage depending on what they are doing. Andrew is now at Singleton for 3-4 months, focusing on infantry training. With deepest thanks to everyone at Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverviewwho contributed to Andrew’s success over the last few years. Meryn O’Brien
Ignatian 49