Anthony Frederick “Tony” Lambourne

A memorial service for the late Anthony Frederick (Tony) Lambourne was held at St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Kyneton, on Thursday, June 30, 2022

For 30 years of his working life, Tony had been Donald’s highly respected shire and water board engineer, and a contributor to the community in many other ways.

The following are excerpts from tributes read by his daughter, Melinda, and sons, David and Geoffrey:

Tony Lambourne has been described as a force larger than life; very strong-willed and strong minded. 

This strong will, of course, led to many of his successes, but was also accompanied by a degree of stubbornness. However, he was also a man who was cheeky, fun and generous, who deeply loved his family, especially his grandchildren.

Dad and Lorna, his twin sister, were born in the small town of Winbourne on the English south coast in 1939 to Frederick and Gwendoline. He had five other siblings: Don, Mavis, Audrey, Molly and John. At age nine, he arrived in Melbourne with his family, and went on to study Engineering at the Royal Melbourne 

Institute of Tech­nology 
Later he qualified as a building surveyor and town planner, completing a Bachelor of Business, which included subjects in accoun­tancy and economics.

After his first job with the Country Roads Board, Dad escaped to the country! He was senior engineer in Stawell where he focused on bridges. He then escaped to flatter country, the wool capital of the world, Hamilton, where he became Deputy Shire Engineer. In 1965, at age 26, he found the flattest country and settled in Donald as the Shire and Water Board Engineer, where he worked for the next 30 years.

Engineering
Dad really loved engineering. He was a conscientious, hard worker who helped transform the Shire of Donald with infrastructure and community projects. His engineering achievements included: the iconic water supply tower and pumping station; new water reticulation and sewerage systems; the Watchem swimming pool; the Richardson bike path; the ambulance station; new tennis courts; the reconstructed reacecourse track; improved public parks and recreations areas; and revamped business district.

He was particularly proud of building the Donald Senior Citizens’ Centre with its passive solar design — big north facing windows, generous eaves that blocked summertime sun, but allowed it through in winter to heat up the building. It is so pleasant that Geoffrey and Christina had their wedding reception there. 

He was also very proud of building the Donald Indoor Sports Centre, which included basketball stadium, squash, badminton and indoor tennis courts, social room, change rooms and sauna. 

The Sports Centre made a big difference to the community and was the first in the region.

He was recognised and applauded for his work as a Fellow of both the Institute of Engineers Australia and of the Institute of Municipal Engineers Australia, and in 1994, retired as a gentleman grazier and grain grower, though his passion for engineering lasted well into retirement. 

Family
Dad dearly loved his family. He met the love of his life, Vivienne, at a dance and they married in 1963. The three children were all born in Donald. Later came the grandchildren, Rebecca, Nicholas, Charlie, Lucy and Kate who luckily loved visiting the farm.

He loved working outside on the farm on a small property he purchased in Corack in 1970, which later expanded to a larger property named “Ashgrove”. The millenial drought hit, and after spending more and more of his time managing water, Mum and Dad moved to wetter pastures at Lakeview in Tylden; both closer to family as well as football, tennis and musicals in Melbourne.

Dad loved the ’Pies, going on train trips to watch Collingwood play, and he loved having his friends around for the regular Friday night “debating club” which seemed to involve a lot more drinking than debating and would play devil’s advocate, taking an opposing view just to get someone fired up.

He loved his grandchildren and was fond of organising activities for them on the farm, teaching them to ride motorbikes and other vehicles as they got older, and they also benefitted from his vast engineering experience. 

Not satisfied with standard designs, Dad built the grandkids a “Grand Designs” style cubby house, with a generous verandah and opening windows. He particularly enjoyed family time when everyone was together. 

It is difficult to imagine Dad not being around . . . when we visit the farm, he won’t be there and we can’t even give him a call. He will leave a huge hole in our lives; we will miss him dearly.