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Obituaries
Robert George Bacon (OW1960)
5/05/1942 – 21/08/2021
Robert was born in 1942 in Warragul Hospital, the eldest of siblings Alan (OW1962), Ronald (OW1966) and Margaret (MLC Elsternwick 1960).
Rob attended Drouin State school, Drouin High School and then boarded at Wesley College from Years 9 to 12, where his favourite subject was Maths. Loving Wesley so much that he decided to do Year 12 twice, Rob’s 1960 Gift Book shows the many service roles he had, including being a Sub-Prefect and serving on the Tuck Shop committee. Rob’s son Cameron (OW1987) and grandson Curtis both followed at Wesley.
Rob’s first full time job was Trainee Manager at Woolworths, paying 11 pounds a week. In 1964 he started a drapery shop in Hartwell, moving to Blackburn and later, Wantirna South, living behind the shop in Hartwell.
He met wife Marylyn Dunn (MLC Elsternwick 1960), a catering manager, through the Church when he was 22 and they dated for twelve months before becoming engaged. They married in 1967, soon moving to Glen Waverley, closer to the Wantirna shop.
In 1978 he took over Bacon’s Drapery in Drouin from his father and in 1979 they moved to Drouin. Cameron was born in 1969 and daughter Melinda in 1973, at home on the laundry floor, with Rob assisting! Melinda went on to attend MLC.
Marylyn died in 1989 and later he closed Bacon’s Drapery which had been in the family for 81 years. Rob was a numbers man who loved maths, car number plates and small details so he joined taxation specialists H & R Block, and continued community volunteering. Rob first travelled overseas at 51, to Indonesia. He brought back some gifts for his parents, thinking they were egg cups, but actually they were shot glasses. He didn’t realise, as he never drank alcohol! He loved trains, something he inherited from his mother, and loved to race them, particularly trains between Drouin and Berwick as the road ran parallel.
He joined Melinda on the EuroStar from London to Paris and loved the coal-filled air of a ride on Puffing Billy in the Dandenong Ranges. In January 2002 he married Kath and they travelled on The Ghan together, which had been a life-long dream. Rob, whose smile was infectious, loved his children unconditionally. He was grandfather to Cameron’s son Curtis and Melinda’s son Daniel and did much for the people in his life.
He was an achiever on many levels and lived a life of service, including the Lions Club Wantirna, East Burwood Uniting Church, Drouin Chamber of Commerce, Drouin and Warragul Parish and Presbytery Treasurer for Uniting Church.
He helped launch the Drouin Ficifolia Festival and the Lyrebird Nursing Home committee, first as a member, then as President. In true Wesley style he loved to sing, being in school and church choirs. Singing or humming a hymn while at home, Rob sang while polishing the school shoes on Sunday nights and one of his last possessions was his treasured Wesley hymn book.
Contributed by Melinda Bacon