The College recently reconnected with former day student Maurie Tanian (SPC 1959-61, PY1962), who visited the College recently.
It had been 60 years since Maurie was a day student and it bought back a panorama of memories.
鈥淢y greatest achievement there was making the St Pat鈥檚 1st XVIII Football Team and during my recent visit, I was delighted to see the photo still hanging on the wall,鈥� said Maurie.
Maurie has shared his path in life after leaving St Pat鈥檚 in 1961.
鈥淢y family lived in Ballarat so when I left St Pat鈥檚, I went to Ballarat Teachers College and continued to live in Ballarat for the next five years. During that time, I played Aussie Rules with the Ballarat Football Club seniors under coach Lenny Templar. I played on the wing.
鈥淎fter that, I got a teacher transfer to Castlemaine and played for Castlemaine in the Bendigo League. Ron Auchettl聽from Carlton was the coach.
鈥淎fter my footy career finished, I continued with my teaching career and also became heavily involved with the Lions Clubs organisation, eventually becoming a president of a Melbourne club聽 and later, a District Governor. I guess you could say the highlight of my聽time in Lions was when I was elected to the position of National Chairman of the Lions Clubs of Australia in 1996-1997 (it is always a one year term).聽 Lions Australia had about 30, 000 members at that time.
鈥淎t the same time, I became Principal of a primary school in Laverton and would go on to be Principal of a larger school in Footscray. This was a pretty challenging time for me being a Principal and National Chairman of Lions which involved a lot of interstate and overseas travel.
鈥淎fter my term as National Chairman came to an end, I took early retirement from teaching, and my wife, Anne, and I went to live in Aix-en-Provence in France. I spent part of my time at the University of AIx-Marseille where I attempted to perfect my Australian-French. We had a wonderful time living there and have returned a number of times since. In fact, learning French would pay off for me as in the last couple of years as I have been the Lions International聽 Co-Ordinator for the French-speaking countries of New Caledonia, Tahiti and Vanuatu. This has meant more regular travel overseas again.
鈥淎s to more recent times, in 2018 as lead-up to the Commonwealth Games, I was chosen to be a member of the Queen鈥檚 Baton Relay and carry the Baton around a section of Williamstown. A great thrill!
鈥淣owadays, my life has slowed down somewhat. Anne and I live a quiet life in Williamstown. I am still doing a little relief-teaching, I鈥檓 still a Lions Club member, and I am always very thankful of my great time at St Pat鈥檚 which helped set me up in later life.鈥�
