Aliyah Partington, a year 8 student at Bellingen High School, interviewed retiree Dick McColl and wrote this profile as part of her Youth Frontiers project. This is the third and final profile that Aliyah has written for the Courier-Sun. The others were of Gordon Jacob and Cynthia Miller.
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Profile
- Name: Dick McColl
- Age Bracket: 70s
- Born: Cowra, NSW
- Hobbies and Interests: Woodwork, bird rescuer, boat rescue services and voluntary work for the Cancer Council
- Pets: Birds and a dog
- Careers: Machinery importing, self-employed work, Jackaroo work and the Army
Dick is a retiree currently living in Repton. He shared some of his life experiences over a cup of coffee as he spoke about the time his parents met and about his childhood memories of growing up on a farm and being conscripted to the Australian Army.
Dick was born in a small town called Cowra, located in the Central West region of NSW. He enjoys woodwork, gardening and breeding birds for a hobby.
Dick was raised on a farm in Cowra with his four younger siblings. He was a ' farm boy' as he grew crops and farmed cattle. Dick caught a steam train to school each morning that came by his house as the track ran through his property. Dick was later sent to an all-boys boarding school in Sydney.
"I loved it,'' Dick said, explaining that he enjoyed being independent and self-reliant.
During the time of the Vietnam war, Dick's name was drawn out to be a soldier and serve in the Australian Army. He was 20 years old.
"It was a tough experience," he said.
What he focused on, however, were the happier and prouder moments in his life, such as hunting rabbits, travelling on holiday and the time he proved to his father his reliability through his work on the farm.
Dick told of how blessed he was, to have such a good upbringing as a child.
Dick values his family and friends, as he strives to keep in touch with his six children.
In answering the question of what his greatest achievements are in life, he responded: "My kids."
Dick was asked to think of a positive time or event that had stuck with him over the years. He chose to tell the story of how his parents met.
Dick's words:
“My father was in England during the war between 1941-1945. He was a pilot. He met my mother in England and they fell in love. They became engaged and the very next day she received news he'd been shot and presumed dead. However, at the end of the war he came back after being held captive in a prisoner of war camp in Germany. They married in 1945 and decided to move to Australia. They came separately. Mum travelled over on a boat of 800 women. They settled on a farm in Cowra where I was born, the same farm my father had grown up on as he too was raised a farm boy. He passed away at the age of 50. Three years later Mum decided to visit back home in England and see her family. There she met an old friend and formed a relationship with this man and they married, they lived in England together for a few years then came back to Australia to live a better life on the farm with us.”
Dick’s story about the time his parents met shows what he values most, as he cherished the moments where it all began.