Vale- 2025, December

John Mayers
Dec 31, 2025
7 min read

Updated: Feb 14

CAMERON | FINTER | FOWKE | STOBO |

CAMERON, Alan d. 21 July 2025

Alan Cameron, born 20 September 1937, was a prominent silviculturist, significantly contributing to forestry in Papua New Guinea and globally throughout his career.

Alan Cameron began forestry studies in 1956, after being interviewed by Jim McAdam MM, Director of Forests, TPNG and awarded a cadetship by TPNG in 1956. He graduated with a BSc Forestry (Hons) from the University of Queensland in 1962.

Further, he was dux at the Australian Forestry School, receiving the Sir William Schlich Memorial Gold Medal in 1960.

He contributed to the forestry industry of PNG, co-authoring the influential silviculture publication, Silvicultural techniques in Papua New Guinea forest plantations, which is still being used today in the management of PNG’s tree plantations.

Alan spent 13 months conducting fieldwork in the Bulolo, Wau, and Kerevat plantations in PNG.

In 1962, Alan commenced investigations into the characteristics of both Teak and Kamarere, and the tree breeding program for both species was commenced. This was extended to Hoop and Klinkii pine later with Bulolo as the area of focus. He conducted significant research on forest management and tree improvement.

He worked with various organisations, including UNFAO and CSIRO, focusing on forestry and

environmental protection. He also managed forest harvesting and processing operations in PNG and Australia, and was involved in the establishment of the woodchip industry in Australia.

His later career saw him as a consultant for international aid agencies and private companies in forestry and horticulture. He maintained a focus on sustainable forestry practices by conducting research in 27 countries. He was also engaged in horticulture, growing various crops from 1986 to 2004.

At his passing, Alan received condolences from prominent figures in the forestry sector, acknowledging his contributions and impact on PNG’s forestry industry.

Richard McCarthy

FINTER, Elizabeth Sophia (née West, Fenwick) d. 26 July 2025, aged 98

Elizabeth, affectionately known as Betty, was born on 7 August 1926 in Madang, Papua New Guinea. Named after Queen Elizabeth II, born the same year, Betty lived a life marked by resilience, compassion, and deep connection to PNG. Her father, Jack West, born in England in 1897, migrated to Toowoomba, Queensland in 1910.

After serving in WWI, he marriedAda Chamberlin, a nurse from Kingsthorpe. In January 1926, the couple moved to Madang, where Jack managed a copra plantation. Betty was born later that year.

At age one, Betty’s family relocated to Nambung Plantation in the Bainings of East New Britain, where she spent her early childhood immersed in the natural beauty of the region. She played with local children and learned Tok Pisin and the Bainings languages, forming a lifelong bond with the people and culture of PNG. During this time, her mother gave birth to twins who sadly passed away—an early sign of Betty’s resilience in surviving such a harsh environment.

In 1931, the family returned to Australia for Ada to safely give birth to her next child. Betty vividly remembered sailing into Sydney Harbour and seeing both ends of the Harbour Bridge not yet connected. She also recalled being taken to the theatre for the first time. Misunderstanding the word ‘play’ for ‘palai’ (Tok Pisin for lizard) and anticipating a giant reptile behind the ominous theatre curtains, a terrified Betty was taken home before the show started.

Later that year, Betty’s sister Ann was born in Oakey. In 1933, the family moved to Mt Mee, where six-year-old Betty learned to ride a horse to attend school. Jack was soon offered a job back 60 in PNG.

Financially, things were tough and making some money and returning to the beauty and adventure of PNG was too strong a calling. He returned alone, while Ada and the children moved to live with family in Yalangur, where Betty attended Gowrie Little Plain School.

At age 10, Betty moved to Brisbane to board at St Michael’s School in Clayfield, later attending St Margaret’s as a day scholar. During her time there, she regularly witnessed warplanes flying overhead and practised air raid drills. She often remained at school during holidays, a testament to her independence and strength. In 1942, with WWII escalating, St Margaret’s closed temporarily.

Betty returned to Oakey and worked in a bank at age 16. In her late teens, she pursued nursing at both the Diamantina Hospital and the Brisbane General Hospital, earning qualifications in nursing and midwifery by April 1949.

Later that year, Betty sailed aboard the MV Bulolo to Rabaul and then to her parents, who were living in Waterfall Bay, a remote location accessible only by boat.

Soon after, she returned to Rabaul, having been recruited

Betty (centre) with her nursing friends at the Asiatic Hospital

by the Australian Department of Public Health to work at Rapindik Native Hospital. She cared for

Indigenous patients, lived in the nurses’ quarters, and drove an ex-army jeep, which was common transport at the time in a town still recovering from WWII.

Betty later transferred to the

ANGAU Asiatic Hospital for

Chinese and founded the Haus

Kabala, a maternity ward named after a combination of the Kuanua words ‘kabala’, a cooking pot, symbolising the womb, and ‘kap bala’, which means to be pregnant. As a midwife, she helped countless PNG women deliver safely, perhaps inspired by her mother’s own experiences.

In Rabaul, Betty met Dallas ‘Peter’ Fenwick, a ship’s captain from Brisbane. They married in 1951 and had four children: Ewen (1953), Roderick (1954), Judith (1956) and Deborah (1957). In

1958, Betty returned to work as Sister-in-Charge of the Rabaul Town Clinic, sending her sons to temporarily live with her parents at Raluat Plantation.

Tragedy struck in 1963 when Peter died at sea aboard the MV Polurrian, which sank with many lives lost. Betty, now a widow with four young children, moved her family to Malaguna Road in Rabaul, near the Chinese Cemetery.

In the next chapter of her life,

Betty married Keith Finter in 1967. Keith, an electrician from Brisbane, had co-founded Rabaul

Electrical Service (RES). He was a bachelor, a Mason, and Deborah’s godfather. After marrying, Betty joined RES and gave birth to her fifth child, Sophia Leila, in 1968. Keith lovingly referred to their blended family as ‘the family circus’, and he was adored by them all.

Betty and Keith ran RES for many years, training and employing many Papua New Guineans. Keith was affectionately known as ‘Masta Pipe’ for his pipe-smoking and ‘Masta Kela’ for his bald head. They were beloved figures in Rabaul.

In 1996, following the volcanic destruction of Rabaul, Betty and Keith retired to Australia, splitting their time between a Brisbane apartment overlooking the Botanic Gardens and a beachside home in Maroochydore. They enjoyed 49 happy years together until Keith’s passing in 2016.

Betty remained independent until October 2023, when she moved into aged care at age 97.

She passed away peacefully on 26 July 2025, just shy of her 99th birthday.

On 7 August 2025, Betty was farewelled at St Mary’s Anglican Church in Kangaroo

Point, Brisbane. The service was attended by family, friends, and the East New Britain Queensland Choir Group, who sang hymns in Kuanua in her honour.

Betty—known as Sister West, Sister Fenwick, Mum, Bubu and Grandma—left behind a legacy of love and service. She had five children, nine grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. Her life touched many, and her memory lives on in the hearts of those she served and loved.

‘When a person dies, a library dies.’

With love and thanks for all you gave us, Elizabeth.

Boina tuna. Farewell.

Sophia Finter, Deborah

Fenwick & Ruby Rousell

FOWKE, John ‘Jack’ d. 5 August 2025, aged 85

John ‘Jack’ Edward Fowke was born in Boonah on 20 June 1940, the second child of Norm and Lucy Fowke. He enjoyed a closeknit childhood alongside his sisters, Rosemary and Sandra, and his brother, Murray.

John Fowke Between 1981 and 1989, Jack served as Employee Relations Manager at the South-East Queensland Electricity Board (SEQEB). Balancing full-time employment, he pursued parttime studies at the Queensland Institute of Technology, earning a Bachelor of Business Management in 1986. Following his separation from Margaret in 1988, Jack lived in Calamvale until 1989 before moving to Ham Road in Mansfield. In 1990, Jack became a fulltime student at Griffith University, completing a Graduate Diploma in Environmental Studies in April 1990, followed by a Graduate Diploma of Education in March 1991. He then spent much of the 1990s as a Business Management lecturer for the Department of Employment, Vocational Education, Training , and Industrial Relations, later known as TAFE.

Around 1999, Jack relocated to Maidenwell, where he worked as a casual contract teacher in local schools and began cultivating grapes for wine—Shiraz, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon among his selections. In August 1999, he graduated from the University of Queensland with a Postgraduate Diploma in Philosophy. Upon retiring, Jack dedicated himself to Australian Volunteers Abroad (ABV) through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, undertaking assignments in Indonesia, East Timor, Cambodia and Fiji. In Indonesia, he provided leadership and conflict resolution training to staff at a new pharmaceutical company; in Cambodia, he assisted in developing business curriculum for a university north of Phnom Penh. His contributions were acknowledged with an award from the Prime Minister of Australia. In 2013, Jack was honoured with the Police Overseas Service Medal, recognising his years as a kiap in Papua New Guinea. During a ceremony in Canberra, kiaps were described as ambassadors, police officers, explorers, farmers, engineers and anthropologists—praised for their perseverance, tenacity, and commitment, and remembered as among Australia’s finest public servants. Jack’s talents extended beyond his professional achievements.

He was a skilled carpenter, having learned woodworking from his father, and crafted furniture and cabinetry for his own homes. A keen sailor, he once attempted a voyage to Vanuatu, but was forced to return due to boat trouble; nonetheless, he spent considerable time living aboard his vessel, exploring the Queensland coast. Among his most prized possessions was his Harley Davidson motorcycle. During his life, Jack travelled extensively throughout the UK, Europe and the Holy Land. Devoted to his faith, Jack rarely missed Sunday Mass, even going so far as to cross flooded rivers in order to attend. Only upon his admission to Palm Lakes Care did he become unable to continue this tradition. Jack was grandfather to five and great-grandfather to two. H e p a s s e d a w a y f r o m dementia in Deception Bay on Tuesday, 5 August 2025. Upon being notified of Jack’s passing a long term friend said he would be remembered as ‘an ebullient character’.

Advised by Will Muskens