OLD GUILDFORDIANS
News
In year order
Michael Adams (He 1951-1952) recently
released a book about his life called “From
Palgarup to the Present”.
Peter Lefroy (SG 1944-1952) was featured
alongside his wife, Diana, in the West Australian
for the restoration of their convict-built home.
The Lefroy family live on a property in Walebing,
200km north of Perth, where most of the
buildings were built by convict labour in the late
1840s. Peter and Diana have continually worked
to conserve and restore the unique WA property.
Michael Morcombe (Sc 1951-1953) has
become a Member (AM) in the General Division
of the Order of Australia for “significant service
to conservation and the environment in the
fields of natural history and ornithology as a
photographer, illustrator and author”. Go to
www.mmbirds.com if you would like to see
some of Michael’s work.
David Blair (St/Wb 1961-1963) was inducted
into the WA Science Hall of Fame at the
Premier’s Science Awards. Alongside this
achievement, Professor Blair has also been
elected by his peers to the prestigious Australian
Academy of Science in recognition for the
decades he has spent researching gravitational
waves.
Ronald Cooper (Wb 1966-1970), currently
living in France, visited Perth in September
2018 with his wife, Aicha, and son, Sofian
Old Guildfordian
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memorabilia
Cooper (Wb 2011-2011). While in town Ron
had a mini reunion at the Woodbridge Hotel
with Peter Kesacoff (St 1966-1970), Martin
Pearce (Wb 1966-1968) and Stephen Latham
(SG 1966-1970), joined by his wife Jenny. While
all gentlemen had been on the same music
information email distribution list for quite some
time now, they had not met up for almost 50
years. Describing it as a “magical moment”,
Ron said the years seemed to disappear in a blur
when they met up.
Constantine Michael (Wb 1966-1970) and
his business Balconi Telecommunications were
awarded a WA Engineering Excellence Award in
2018 for their product, the Balconi Smart Torch.
The device is described as a portable in-field
telehealth office that harnesses global coverage.
This newly developed technology provides
remote and disadvantaged communities access
to medical specialists globally.
Digby Cullen (SG 1971-1972) is a
gastroenterologist and philanthropist who offers
his skills to the group ‘Australian Doctors for
Africa’. Digby spends five weeks each year in
Madagascar treating gastrointestinal disease.
Jamie ‘Stormie’ Mills (Wb 1979-1984)
featured in the 2018 Telstra Perth Fashion
Festival, headlining the Empire Rose show in
support of his friend and designer, Kathryn
Cizeika. Stormie has been involved in many
fashion shows over the years, but has always
helped out in a ‘behind the scenes’ capacity.
This was his first time on the runway of a
fashion show.
Campbell Giles (Ha 1981-1985) attended a
convention on the Gold Coast and was awarded
with First National Real Estate’s highest honour,
the Kaye Heath Memorial Award. The award
recognises Campbell’s outstanding contribution
to First National for over 20 years.
Jonathon Tooby (St 1982-1986) has left the
School of Music, Guildford Grammar School, to
take up an appointment as the Artistic Director
and Chief Conductor for the Darwin Symphony
Orchestra. Jon has worked with the BBC, Halle
and London Philharmonic Orchestras and won
competitions at the Royal College of Music, both
as a chamber musician and a soloist. He has
gone on to develop as a conductor as part of
the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, West
Australian Ballet and West Australian Opera.
Trent Cooper (Wb 1986-1990) was appointed
as the coach of the Fremantle Dockers
Australian Football League Women’s side.
Trent was formerly an assistant with the Swan
Districts Football club and the WA Women’s
Under-18 coach. He has been a part of the WA
Football Commission’s female high performance
program since 2017.
Jeremy Hurst (Be 1986-1990) was successful
in getting the entrepreneurial backing from a
‘Shark’ in a 2018 TV episode of Shark Tank on
Channel 10. Jeremy and co-founders Daniel
McCullen and Daniel Franco, gained support
from Steve Baxter for their space-sharing
website called SpacetoCo.
Josh Davenport (Be 1989-1994) auctioned
off a row of grape vines to support Muscular
Dystrophy Western Australia (MDWA). Josh and
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his wife, Rachael, own Myattsfield Vineyards in
the Bickley Valley and offer the opportunity for
someone to own and produce their own wine
for a year, through the auction of Row 38 at the
annual Truffle for Muscles Charity event. The
couple have raised $54,500 for MDWA through
auctioning off Row 38 since 2012.
Fahmi Ahmad-Yussof (SG 1991-1996) and
Rachel Nicholaidis became married in 2018 and
shared the beautiful occasion at a ceremony and
celebrations, one in Perth in October and one in
Kuala Lumpur in December.
John Elliott (Be 1994-1999) is embarking on a
life-changing journey. He has effectively retired
at age 35 from the insurance industry and
is now embarking on a series of adventures.
For his first adventure, John has become a
fully qualified Cameleer in preparation for a
West to East solo trek across Australia (with
three camels), starting from Paraburdoo in
the Pilbara. In true adventurer fashion, John is
uncertain where he will finish up, but he plans
to travel approximately 4000km stopping to visit
Aboriginal communities along the way.
Simon Cherriman (Wb 1999-2001) unveiled
70 images in an exhibition of his work at
The Sound Temple in the Sawyers Valley. The
collection, Kingdom in the Clouds, featured
Simon’s passion for wildlife and landscape with
images of the Noongar seasons and wedge-
tailed eagles.
Yuri Berns (Fr 1993-2004) was featured in
The Reporter (8 May 2018) discussing the
phenomenal weather conditions that created an
outstanding vintage for Swan Valley winemakers
in 2018. Yuri is currently the president of
the Swan Valley and Regional Winemakers
Association and described the 2018 vintage as a
“once in a generational year”.
Simon Crossland (SG 2003-2006) hosted the
2018 EOFY Party as part of Terrace Events. The
event was hosted at The Camfield near Optus
Stadium and attracted over 2000 people.
Alex Rance (Fr 2005-2006) published a
children’s book titled Tigers Roar, a tale about
self-belief, combined talents and success. The
book was inspired by the Richmond Football
Club’s 2017 premiership win in the Australian
Football League and features characters that are
based on Alex’s Richmond teammates. He also
achieved his fifth All Australian selection in a row
(2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018) including
being named the All Australian Captain in 2017.
Ambrose Bonnaire-Sergeant (St 2003-
2007) has passed his PhD proposal with
no amendments from his four adjudicating
professors. After years of dedication and hard
work, Ambrose is now in his fifth and final year
of his PhD in Computer Sciences at Indiana
University, United States of America.
Lindsay Dick (Wb 2002-2007) spent 2018
pioneering a new business model as a non-
executive director of Greenfields Exploration.
The mining entrepreneur secured the exclusive
mineral rights to explore a 13,000km 2 tract of a
remote Danish territory, in Greenland, which is
a prospect for nickel, copper and cobalt.
Chris Durrant (Staff 1988-2007) released