PRESIDENT
Mark BRINDAL (1961 - 1965)
I attended first at North Terrace and
subsequently at Glenunga. Eldest
grandson of “Darby” Haskard (Deputy
Principal ATHS). A member of
Cavendish House, I played hockey for the
school in each of the 5 years
attended. I was the Editor of the School
Magazine in 1965 and was the
founder and first Editor
of the school newspaper “Tech Talk”. After
leaving
school, I was a primary school teacher,
Principal and Education
Administrator. I entered Parliament in 1989
and retired in 2006 and have
subsequently completed my MBA. I am married
to Pam and have four step
children and twelve grandchildren.
VICE PRESIDENT
Ross TAYLOR
(1954 - 56)
After my Intermediate
year [ 1956 ] I left the Tech for a job. I
drifted from job to
job until 1964 when I
was offered a position in the Accounts Dept.
of Chrysler
Australia Ltd. I remained, in
various positions, with Chrysler 'till early
1975
when The Health Insurance Commission
advertised for Staff to administer the
"Medibank
Programme".
I performed many functions in the Medibank/Medicare Programmes
before becoming a Branch Office Manager in
1983.
I retired in November
2000 to nurse my late
wife. Since 1996 I've been involved in
helping various
Vietnam Veteran
Organizations, serving on several Committees
including
The Veteran's Day Concert, The
Peter Badcoe Club [ XMRC ] & currently the
Fleurieu Peninsula Veterans Community
Association Inc.
I enjoy visiting friends in Canada & the
U.S.A. & intend to see a lot more
of Australia over the next few years. My
hobby has been roadying for a young
musician
around Adelaide during the past six years. I
now live in the Paris
Creek area next to my
Daughter, Son-in-Law & Grand-daughter.
VICE
PRESIDENT / ACTING SECRETARY
Warren WEST (1953 - 1956)
Head Prefect and House Captain (1956)
On
leaving school I joined ETSA as a Cadet
Engineer while studying at the
University of
Adelaide. After graduating as a Mechanical
Engineer I continued
with ETSA for 20 years
before joining the South Australian Brewing
Company
for a further 8 years when I started
my own one-man engineering consultancy
which
is still in operation. I am married to Kathy
and we have two grown
children and two
grandchildren.
TREASURER
David STOBA (1951-54)
After
matriculating in 1954, I spent 3 years at
Adelaide University and then
worked for a
year in Tasmania and then at British Tube
Mills, Kilburn.
Completed a B.Ap.Sc degree
in 1962. Worked for BTM for 35 years, the
last
10 years as Quality Manager. I became a
quality management consultant
when Kilburn
plant closed in ‘93. Parallel with civilian
career, I spent over 30
years in the Army
Reserve, retiring with the rank of Colonel.
Interests included
sheep breeding. My wife
and I operated a Saxon merino sheep stud on
a
property at Gumeracha. My first wife died
in 1995. Whilst on vacation in UK in
1997, I
met a lady from Texas and married a year
later. I have now sold the
Gumeracha
property, retired from consulting and travel
overseas on a regular
basis.
MEMBERSHIP
SECRETARY
Julie Halifax
(1966-1969)
Living at Fullarton, the new ATHS Glenunga
site was a short walk from home.
After
completing the Commercial Course I have
worked in the administration
field for my
whole working life. At school I was known
more for my sport, in
particular swimming,
than for my academic abilities.
On leaving school I continued with my
swimming for a while and also played
water
polo. I later became very involved in
netball coaching and
administration. I have
lived and worked in the Northern Territory,
Victoria and
WA as well as in SA, in a
variety of secretarial roles in varying
fields. I was
briefly married many years
ago, and having had no children of my own,
became a foster carer for 17 years later in
life.
These days I work mainly from home,
supporting a range of clients
administratively. Having had great get
togethers with old primary school
classmates, getting involved with the ATHS
Old Scholars seemed to be an
interesting
challenge, and taking on Membership
Secretary certainly has
been!
.
MINUTE
SECRETARY
Charmaine
KITSON (nee Roocke) (1961-63)
My working life has always involved the
typing and shorthand skills I learned at
Adelaide Tech. Over the years I worked for a
number of widely known South
Australian
companies including The Savings Bank of SA,
Le Cornu Furniture,
Stillwell Ford and for
the last twenty years, at insurance brokers,
Jardine Lloyd
Thompson. From 1977 my late
husband and I spent twelve years in Sydney.
After 44 years, I retired in early 2008 and
am loving the freedom of being able
to do
what I want, when I want. I am still in
close contact with three friends from
my
schooldays at the Tech and we spent a very
enjoyable couple of days
together last year
to celebrate our 60th birthdays.
GENERAL
COMMITTEE
Jan BRABHAM (nee Atkinson) (1953-1956)
On leaving school I worked as a Secretary
for several years. My husband, Roy
Brabham,
who attended ATHS from 1943-1946 was a
senior partner in the
architectural firm, Cheesman, Doley Brabham & Neighbour. We
lived in
Sydney for 5 years until his death
in 1970.
I have two children, both married, and two
grandchildren – my pride and joy.
When my
children were at school I served on numerous
committees
connected with their school,
sporting and other activities. I have also
been
involved in the showing, training and
breeding of German Shepherds since a
young
child. I became a Judge for Obedience Trials
and for the Working Dog
Group in 1964. Later
I became a Specialist Judge for the German
Shepherd
breed, both in showing and
obedience and also an Assessor/Examiner for
Trainee Judges in the Working Dog Group.
After my husband’s death I returned to
Adelaide and became a director of the
accountancy firm, Harrison Brabham Evans &
Co and have since worked in
other
accountancy firms. I still work one day a
week, mainly in the taxation
area, while the
rest of my time is largely taken up with
family activities.
Brenda KITTO (nee Mell)
(1956-60)
After leaving school I worked in various
secretarial positions, continuing after I
was married until the first of my three
children was born in 1967. I rejoined the
workforce in 1977 working part time as a
School Assistant in several schools
until
1986 when I was seconded to the Australian
Education Union, little
knowing that I would
spend the next twenty years there.
In 2006 I retired and with my husband of 46
years, Ian, I now enjoy visiting the
three
children and five grandchildren who all live
interstate or overseas. When
we are not
visiting, I find time for activities such as
keeping fit, attending
classes in mosaics
and practical philosophy as well as Lifeline
telephone
counselling.
Peter KOPLI
(1953-57)
I arrived with my family in Adelaide in May
49 from a displaced persons camp
in Germany, unable to speak a word of
English. After overcoming the
language problem I finished
primary school at the Payneham School, along
with other members of the Class of '53,
Geoff Simpson and the late Kevin
Jarrett.
After leaving school at the end of 1957 I
worked as a lab assistant in
the University
of Adelaide Chemical Engineering Department
while
undertaking part time study at the
University. Incidentally I was interviewed
for
the job by former old scholar, Malcolm
Hill, who was the lecturer in Primary
Metallurgy. Despite not being particularly
scholarly, I finished a graduate
diploma in
chemistry at the then SAIT. By then I was
working at the Waite
Institute (Agronomy
Section) as a research assistant. After
graduating I
worked as a shift assayer at
the Pt. Pirie smelters, then at the E&WS
Bolivar
laboratories before moving to Toronto,
Canada to work for Ontario Water
Resources. Although the plan was to stay
there for a while, when it snowed on
the
first day of October and would continue to
do so for the next 4 to 5 months,
I came
back to join AMDEL at Glenside and work
their Emission
Spectrograph.
By the mid 70s AMDEL was looking sick so I
became a public servant in the
Department of
Environment and Heritage, working on
industrial pollution
issues and
environmental impact statements and their
assessment until I
retired from there in
2001. In 1970 I married Sandra Jansen
(cousin of fellow
Class of '53 member Geoff
Jansen). We had two children, Rebecca and
Matthew, both now living in London. Sandra
died in 1984 after a 4 year battle
with a
brain tumour. I was lucky to find someone
who would put up with my
“pernickety” ways
(Rebecca’s terminology) and remarried in
2000. Wife
Rosemary and I are currently
living in the beautiful Coromandel Valley
with
occasional visits to London to catch up
with the children.
Sue THOMSON (nee Jennings) (1966-70)
Head
Prefect (1970)
After
leaving ATHS (Glenunga), I became a Junior
Primary School Teacher. I
taught for 2 years
before having 3 children. I did relief
teaching for about 25-
30 years. I am now
enjoying my 2 grandchildren and trading in
antiques.
Raelene WILSDON (nee Roocke) (1956-59)
I attended Adelaide Technical High School
from 1956-1959. After finishing
school I
worked as a Secretary in an accountant's
office. I married Murray in
1965 and in 1970
became a full time mother with the birth of
my son followed
by a daughter in 1973. In
1980 I returned to the paid workforce and
worked for
several major construction
companies as a Site Secretary.
The last 17 years of my working life was as
Office Manager/ HR Officer for a
civil
engineering company. Both my husband and I
like to travel and have
enjoyed holidaying
mainly in Europe and the United Kingdom. I
also enjoy
reading, painting, going to the
theatre and since retirement, have returned
to
learning, attending many interesting
courses at the University of the Third
Age.
