Eulogy 14 - A Salute to Warren James (Secundus) Pengilley 1938-2018

 

HOW LUCKY WERE WE?

(Remembrance written and delivered by Warren Maloney
on 15th December 2018) 

 



How Lucky were we in 2009, when the Partnership of Warren Jan Pengilley - the Senior Partner & the Managing Partner – chose to migrate from Newcastle to join two Generations of their Family, Tara & Deiderik & Renier, in our Community, our Village, our Camelot. 


As We and They opened up the Doors for their Participation, their Skills, and their Enthusiasms, we slowly became aware that their Contributions would be so loved and be so rewarding.

If there was an AH-HA Moment, it was on Thursday, 15th October 2009, at the Annual General Meeting of our U3A Hepburn Shire, that we realised how very talented Warren Pengilley was.

If we had bothered to Google Warren’s Background at the time, and indeed if we knew then how to Google, we would have been in awe of this Man with multiple degrees from Arts to Law to Commerce to Science, Professorships & Honours from 6 Universities, authorship of 20 Books and 450+ revered Academic Papers, Founding Trades Commissioner, Corporate Legal Guru, 25+ years in the Military Reserves, 35+ years in Rotary, an Order of Australia, and on it goes.

But Googling would not have told the Fullness of the Wonderful Life we celebrate today.

Google would not have told us

·      How Warren James Pengilley was Cashiered out of the Military at the age of 13 and a half.

o   It seems that the young School Boarder, Master Warren, got swept up in the excitement of School Cadets and joined when he was 11 years old (the minimum age then was supposed to be 14.

o   The enthusiastic youngster was found out when he was 13, and he wrote sorrowfully to his Mother that he was being “Dismissed with Disgrace from a Position of Trust. I do not think I will go to Jail bit I will keep you informed.”

o   Master Warren was able to re-enlist when he turned 14, and he stayed with the Military Reserves until his mid-Fifties, although he did move from the Army to the Air Force Reserve when he learnt “you could wake up 3 hours later and someone else made your Bed!”

Google would not have told us 

·    How his Body Shape (as one Teacher put it – “He arrived egg-shaped and finished pear-shaped”) meant that at School & University Cricket he would be better as a Wicket Keeper than a sprinting Batter or a fast Bowler.

 Nor would Google have told us that he is still regarded as one of the finest Full-Backs EVER for the Sydney University Rugby Team. As one Captain put it – “He had the knack of being where the Ball was, but never moved above a leisurely waddle.”

Google would not have told us how the Partnership of Warren and Jan, Jan and Warren, began!

·      They met as Opponents in a Debating Contest in 1965.

o   The Intellectual and Human Lusts were quickly evident as 1 Day later they agreed to get Married, and 9 weeks later they did.

o   Warren summed it up – “We had things to do. We just got on with it.”

·      Tn those first years of marriage in Tamworth, the Partnership of the Country Solicitor and the School Teacher

o   Would entertain Clients and Influentials at Home, with the Ironing Board being their Dining Room table; and

o   Would in 1972 encourage their Conservative Neighbours and Civic Fathers to start a Tamworth-Defining Tourism Venture – the Tamworth Country Music Festival. Yep, Warren Pengilley picked up the Idea in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1963 (on a Rotary Tertiary Scholarship) and delivered it to his Hometown and the Rest of Australia. Surely worth a Golden Guitar!


Google would not have told us of their Years in Canberra with their very large and much-loved Labrador, Dougal. They lived in the endless unfenced-lawn areas around the Lake, next to the Embassy Houses and the Governor-General’s Home.

o   It was great for long walks with Dougal, but not so good when the headstrong male Labrador fell in love with the Governor-General’s female dog, and the Pengilleys received somewhat frequent calls from the Yarralumla Private Secretary – “Sir Ninian Stephen has commanded me to ask you to come to remove your dog, Dougal, from his Excellency’s Garden!”

 o   Then there was the Occasion when Dougal, and his Kelpie Mate, Astro (sort of Canine equivalents of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), during a supervised walk, spotted and chased a couple of Canberra hares.

o   The hares got cunning and sought refuge in the Gardens of the Indonesian Embassy, where a couple of hundred guests were being entertained under the Umbrellas by the Pool.

o   Dougal and Astro left nothing to chance and frantically overturned tables, chairs, food, and umbrellas in their search for the hares.

o   Google would not have told us that Warren & Jan did not seek to resue their Charges, but simply retreated back to their home, and awaited the return eventually of the culprits.

 

In a 2012 taped Interview of Warren on his L:ife, I asked him what he thought of Daylesford. He said:

“It’s a pretty good place. It’s a Community where you know lots and lots and lots of People by their First Names, and virtually None by their Surnames or Titles.”

A Good Insight into our Community indeed!

 Over these last 9 years, all of us have got to know Warren & Jan, have cherished their Volunteerism as we warmly received their Welcome at Street Stalls or selling Raffle Tickets or collecting Donations, or burning the sausages at Farmers’ Markets, or putting together Art Shows, or distributing Christmas Cheer presents, or sharing Bridge or Chess tables, and in joining in Openings, Celebrations, Parades, and Concerts.

 These are the moments we remember today. Warren & Jan have been very much First Names in our Community.

 The laugh lines come easily to our faces as we remember those times, even the times not all of us fully remember – such as the Afternoons when a few old Warriors like the 2 Warrens, & Brian & Jeff & David & Danny shared Cowboy & War Movies, bad Whisky, good Wine, and “solved All the World’s Problems” – before the Pengilley Managing Partner somehow got us to our Homes. Google would not have told us any of that!

So, on that Afternoon in October 2009, when the skills, humour, and extraordinary intellect of this Newcomer, Warren James Pengilley, revealed itself, it was with this Address to his New Community, under the Title – “Gobbledegook and Governance -  A look inside the minds of Lawyers, Parliamentary Draftspersons, and Bureaucrats.”

 Let me read for you a portion of that revealing and unforgettable Speech.

 “I believe the Truth is obscured and Justice is indeed blinded by two insidious and pervasive misuses of Language –

Ø  Firstly Legalese - That is the Language in which Draftspersons choose to speak and by which the Laws of our Land are conveyed to Citizens; and

Ø  Secondly Doublespeak – That is the Language by which the Legislative and Political Process is conducted

 

Let us look at the First Issue, that of Obfuscation – Prolixity and Repetition.

 

“I GIVE YOU MY ORANGE”

 

Now, Draftspersons of legally binding documents have a particular way of Speaking and Writing, which is, to put it mildly, “Different”. So, some fairly simple concepts are expressed in words which most Citizens believe to be unnecessary. Thus, the words

 “I GIVE YOU MY ORANGE”

 

Those words leave draftspersons of Legal Documents uncertain of what they mean. There are not enough words. Something must be Wrong! Add some!

“I HEREBY GIVE YOU MY ORANGE”

 

Better, but still not good enough. A little more perhaps!

“I HEREBY CONVEY TO YOU MY ORANGE, AND ALL MY RIGHT TITLE AND INTEREST IN MY SAID ORANGE, WITH THE RIGHT TO ENJOY MY SAID ORANGE AS FULLY AS I CAN ENJOY THE SAME.”

 

Getting Better but not good enough yet.

“I HEREBY GIVE YOU ALL AND SINGULAR, MY ESTATE AND INTEREST, RIGHT TITLE, CLAIM AND ADVANTAGE OF AND IN MY ORANGE, WITH ALL ITS RIND, SKIN, JUICE, PULP AND PIPS, AND ALL RIGHT AND ADVANTAGEW RGHEREIN, WITH FUL;L POWER TO BITE, CUT, SUCK, OR OTHERWISE EAT THE SAME ORANGE, OR GIVE THE SAME AWAY, WITH OR WITHOUT ITS RIND, SKIN, JUICE, PULP, AND PIPS, ANYTHING HERINBEFORE, OR HEREINAFTER, OR IN ANY ORTHER DEED, OR DEEDS, INSTRUMENT OR INSTRUMENTS OF WHATEVER NATURE OR KIND WHATSOEVER, TO THE CONTRARY IN ANY WISE NOTWITHSTANDING.”

 

Now that is a beautifully drafted Document! That is a Document of which a legal Draftsperson can be truly proud!

 

Obviously, the Layman’s initial statement “I GIVE YOU MY ORANGE” was said somewhat hastily. But does the Draftsperson say anything that was not encompassed by the simple Layperson’s proposition “I GIVE YOU MY ORANGE”.

 

In that 2012 taped Interview, I asked Warren about his Children. He paused only slightly before saying:

“Andrew, I think, has more Degrees than me. He is Smarter and makes me Proud. Tara can do anything. She is so talented, and she is the Bravest Person I know.”

And then I asked what message he would like to record for his Grandson, Renier, and for future Generations who may see this tape. A long pause and then he said:

“Do what you have to Do. Do what you want to Do, and in Doing it, make a Difference.”

 

Well Warren, Secundus, you did make a Difference, and it is precisely that Difference that we are celebrating Today.



 

 





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eulogy 25 - A Salute to Stephen Percival (Percy) McGinty

Image
  " LAY IN FIELD " (Written by Warren Maloney - 3rd May 2025) It is a military expression that always brings a pause after saying or reading. He “ lay in field ”! It has a simplicity of meaning that says “ we never found his body parts, but we know he died in the battle. ” There is no comfort in the expression but rather a series of questions never to be answered. Stephen Percival (Percy) McGinty [1] was 21 years & 6 months old when he lay in Field. He had been a farm labourer on his parent’s property when he enlisted in July 19156, just 2 months after the Gallipoli ANZAC landings. He could ride – he could fix things – he could shoot – he wasn’t married – he was perfect for the urgent needs of the Australian Light Horse Regiment. And joining up was the excitement of his hometown, Casterton! All the Farm boys & the Tradies were lining up – “ not shirking their duty ”. By September 1915, he was on his way to the base camp in Egypt. And within 5 months he was ...
Read more

Snippet 17 - Capt. James Saundry

Image
  SNIPPET 17 - CAPT. JAMES SAUNDRY “ Right in the middle of the Action” The parents of James Saundry [1] , Tom & Ann [2 ] , farmers from Breage, Cornwall, may have had other dreams for their 3 rd child, James, but Historic Events clearly shaped him. Within his first decade, the English Navy was sailing to the opposite extreme of the World, Part Jackson, to off-load convicts in a strange, new land. And at the same time, the French were rioting, declaring startling new beliefs, inflicting horrors on their nobility, and creating a new Hero, Napoleon, who would soon take on the might of the English Navy & military. And at the same time, the Irish were rebelling against the might of their English Masters.   Within his second decade, England had 2 new Heroes – at sea, Horatio Nelson, and in India & Spain, Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington.   James stepped away from his family farm and sought a life at sea – the natural home of any Cornwall man. ...
Read more

Eulogy 24 - A Salute to Les Kimpton

Image
  EULOGY 24 - A Salute to Les Kimpton His Gift never stops Giving! Leslie Andrew (Les) Kimpton [1] was the youngest of 5 children. That simple fact is very important to this Salute to Les! There was 18 years difference between his eldest sibling, Mabel [2] , and himself. The time gap does suggest that Les may have either been a mistake or a very unexpected outcome. But being the youngest, Les had the distinction of being the last to die. He was the “ last custodian ” of the family memories, the family home, and the family possessions. This as such is not unusual, except that 3 of the Kimpton siblings had never left the family home [3] – in Les’s case, he had lived in the same house for over 70 years – unmarried, and when his 2 brothers died, alone there for 19 years. Les was only basically educated and factory skilled. He had started in a local hosiery factory in his 20s and stayed there until he retired 45 years later. His friends were those at the factory. They were largely ki...
Read more