February 21, 2025
A very different post today as we said farewell to my old boss (1976 to 1980), Gordon McDougall of Cuballing, WA. Gordon was one of those very few people who come into your life and you will never forget and an important part of my life back then.
Pictured here as I knew Gordon when I came to work for (with) him in 1976 by volunteering to be the first caretaker of the Lions Dryandra Forest Village. Having joined Lions in 1975 I was living in Perth and ready for a change of direction; typical of Gordon was when I offered to move to Dryandra he offered me a job, “talk to me afterwards”, at a backyard meeting in Perth.
The Background:
Gordon had started McDougall Weldments in 1968 and had recently started manufacturing the McDonald (later McDougall) Transportable Sheepyards which were in high demand. My early times included using these jigs (I made the first adustable jig – might even be this one! ) to Mig weld the gate panels that the yards use. (photograph 2023)
Before long we had increasing demand from the Eastern States and Gordon bought our first truck the Acco 1830 before progressing to a 3070 with half sleeper, we built the trays in-house and the Pig Trailer entirely which started as a single and was converted to a dual axle version. Along the way Keith became the driver / salesman; delivering to customers, dealers, and doing Field Days on the way throughout SA, Vic, NSW and Queensland.
With Gordon’s encouragement, I became the distributor for NSW and Queensland and moved to Tamworth but unfortunately I didn’t survive the 1982 drought and moved on to other things … Here the early versions of the yards around 1980, yes that is me operating the winch.
Present Day:
In September 2023, not having seen Gordon or Yvonne since 1981 we made contact and arranged a visit to then find our Landcruiser with a blown head gasket on arrival in Narrogin (see earlier Post) and typical of the McDougall spirit loaned us their Falcon ute while our cruiser was repaired – which turned into 6 weeks with several Lunches at the Cuballing tavern. It transpired that Gordon had been diagnosed with Parkinsons in 2009 but at this time in 2023 was able to walk with a frame to the pub from their home in Cuballing; we visited them again in late March 2024 to find much the same.
We had arranged to visit again this month (February 2025) before heading North for the rest of this year but unfortunately, Gordon had deteriorated more, physically and mentally, and passed away on February 4th after a fall and hospitalisation where his overall and mental condition deteriorated rapidly.
The funeral was held on what would have been his 80th Birthday with a lovely service given by Son in Law Paul who is a Uniting Church pastor, and the Eulogy, written by Yvonne and read by Gordon’s brother Ian.
A Guard of honour was formed by Lions Club Members and Board members from the Lions Dryandra Village and at the graveside we were offered both Rosemary and a tray of nuts and bolts “..in true engineering tradition” to drop on the coffin:
At the Wake in the Cuballing Hall we swapped experiences and enjoyed a Happy Heavenly Birthday Cake in Gordon’s honour …
RIP Gordon …