Rob recently transferred from another Rotary club to Surfers Sunrise. Here is a man whose life is a veritable journey from the “country traditional” to all the aspects of modern, professional, suburban life. A 4th Generation Australian, Rob went to Boompa State School (6 boys and 8 girls), then to boarding school at Brisbane Boy's College for 2 years. “We would sing ‘God Save the Queen’ at the beginning,” he said. This was followed by the Qld Agricultural College and working at the family farm. His family ran a dairy farm with some 120 milking cows. And, as was strongly recommended at the time, he joined the Army Reserve. “It was that, or you found yourself cleaning out the stables! Ours was a large family – my grandfather had 8 daughters. How come I’m calling all these people Aunties and Uncles? And that is how Queensland got going.” He married his sweetheart Margo, and moved to the Gold Coast, where together they set up a veterinary business. Joining with three other Veterinarians, they ran four practices. The large influx of young families with their pets resulted in a hugely successful business. People not only brought their cats and dogs for treatment, but their pets also needed to stay overnight. And they would pay $100 to have it ‘put to sleep’! And you couldn’t just pull a hair out of a dog’s ears; it had to be anaesthetised first...
Rob continued entertaining us with humorous tales, but there’s no doubt about his astute business acumen: at the time he retired, the partnership had 8 partners, 4 veterinarians, and 30 nurses.
Rob is the father of our Treasurer, Charles Thomasson. You can read the full talk (not including the humorous parts though) in our Downloads section of our website. Good to have you as a member of Surfers Sunrise Rotary, Rob!