Vale Patrick Anthony Mackey

30.8.1937 – 17.07. 2023

Unfortunately, I received a copy of Pat’s eulogy delivered by his son Damian after the deadline for the August edition of OVAtions closed. I have chosen to include a couple of excerpts from the eulogy which convey something additional to this remarkable life. The full eulogy has been added to the archives.

Furthermore, Damian was good enough to provide some photos of his father’s time at St Virgil’s College. These were greatly appreciated as there were no yearbooks published in the period 1951–60.  I have included a couple at the end of what follows.

Patrick Anthony Mackey was born on 30 August 1937 to Harry and Sheila in Westbury.

He was soon joined by little sister Margaret, who would be his only sibling throughout life. There was a third sibling, Michael, who sadly died at just a few weeks of age. Pat himself was actually very sick as a newborn and was not expected to survive.

Harry and Sheila had the Westbury Hotel, so Pat was born into the world of the country town pub.

In 1945, at the age of just seven or eight, he went off to St Virgil’s College Boarding School in Hobart. Much later, this would be the cause of much consternation for our Mum, who would often lament that he had been packed off at far too young an age.

Indeed, it is fair to say, that he did not enjoy his first year in boarding school, being just a little boy far from home ….and the discipline there was very strict.

But eventually he grew to absolutely love St Virgil’s, and he flourished there as the years went by, where he forged lifelong friendships. Whenever any of his old school mates visited Dad, we would re-hear many hilarious tales, which always seemed to be funny no matter how many times we heard them. 

At school, Pat became an excellent swimmer - he would be St Virgil’s swimming champion several years in a row.

He also excelled in the school football team. He was a member of the 1953 and 1954 statewide premiership teams – playing full back, of course.

He even pursued Music. In a letter home, he proudly told his parents he was a ‘burglar’ in the band. 

Spelling was never Dad’s strong point.  Generally, he was not the most academically gifted student – especially in subjects like English.

He was, however, great at Mathematics, and as kids we would be amazed at his Mental Arithmetic abilities.  These would stand him in good stead for his later life. 

In 1954 he finished school and returned home. But now home was Latrobe, with his parents having taken over the Royal Hotel at Latrobe in the late 1940s.

His first job was actually as a bank teller for the ES&A bank starting in 1955. He spent time as a relieving teller, working in many branches around the State, including Rosebery which, in those days, could only be reached by train.

His swimming abilities proved handy in Latrobe, as in 1958 he saved the life of a young girl at Bell’s Parade and was subsequently awarded a bravery medal. 

………

Pat was a genuine people person. I never heard him say a bad words about anybody. “You just have to accept people for who they are,” he would say. His natural inclination was to see the good in people.

To use the current trendy term, maybe he was the original ‘woke’ person in this regard – just accept people for who they are. I think in this way Dad lived a true Christian life. 

And the Church was important to him, deep down. Dad didn’t fuss too much about its rules. He didn’t go to every Sunday, and he certainly wasn’t ‘preachy’ at all.  He simply lived it. He - simply -  lived - it. Accept everybody. Love everybody. Forgive everybody. Speak no ill of anybody. Help everyone you can.

And, we his children, learned this from him.

Not by being told, but by observing his way of life. 

Can anyone name the other students in these photos? If so, please contact Graeme Rainbow, grainbow@stvirgils.tas.edu.au.