When I shook hands with Bill Bloomfield last week, I had to laugh.
This gentleman — man and boy — had been popping in and out of my life for about 70 years.
It was good to finally meet him.
At Shepp High, I was in the same year level as his sister Gaye, (now Gaye Pogue), and I knew she had a younger brother, Bill.
That was all; but over the many years of our marriage, my husband sometimes said, “I ran into Bill Bloomfield today”.
Then, in 2021, Bill rang me.
He can’t remember the call and I can’t remember the context, except it was something to do with Town Talk.
Then, recently, on one very busy Tuesday morning, Bill called again.
He was looking for my son; who had apparently left some papers in Bill’s office (regarding a passport application).
Later that day, I thought it was time to contact him for his story.
And what a story it is.
Bill began his education in Ballarat for three years and finished his primary education at Gowrie St Primary School.
He began his secondary years at Shepp High and finished them at Bentley High.
His parents moved around a bit.
His first job was with Goldsbrough Mort, at the Newmarket Saleyards, training to be an auctioneer.
And I’m sure he would have been a good one, but his parents relocated to a dairy farm in Numurkah; he worked the farm for 10 years, during which time he met and married Rita Andrew and their first child was born.
He told me that during his early years, he always considered Shepparton home; possibly because his grandparents lived here and they visited them frequently.
After selling the farm, Bill applied for a job at the Department of Agriculture (he remembers there were more than 200 applicants, taking three exams).
Successful, he travelled from Kerang to Corryong for 14 years, to eliminate a couple of nasty diseases and blood testing around 400,000 cattle.
The family moved to Cobram and had added another daughter and a son.
Then his boss, Bill Sykes, called him. (Some of you may remember this Bill as the captain and coach of the Shepp footy team).
Anyway, the boss said the work was done, and they wanted to redeploy him.
What would he like to do?
This led to some study; firstly at Geelong — maths, chemistry and physics; I gathered that he didn’t particularly enjoy this year, but then came the Gilbert Chandler Institute of Dairy Technology — and microbiology.
I asked how he managed financially over this time of study; he said he was still being paid, all expenses were covered, and a car was provided.
From then on, if there was milk in it, he was there — from Corryong to Bendigo — testing dairy farms and factories.
He returned home, to Shepparton, in 1989.
In 2006, he applied for a Churchill Scholarship and was successful.
And here, I asked a couple more questions, “How many applicants were there? His response, “around 330”.
“Were you smart at school?” — “No. I was lazy and I didn’t know my own capabilities,” he said.
He spent a couple of months travelling – to the United States, Ireland, France and Denmark (all expenses covered).
He was tasked with interviewing farmers to discover if Australia’s dairy industry could benefit from the knowledge he obtained.
He retired, and four days later, was offered a job interviewing milk distributors; with retirement having lost its appeal, he accepted.
He then did farm audits for Tatura Milk and ended his work life travelling to New Zealand and every Australian state except the NT and Queensland — until Covid hit us all.
Bill retired again in 2020, and in 2022, took the necessary exam to become a Justice of the Peace.
He remains a member of the Churchill Trust.
He said he has had a lucky life.
However, we all know that we make our own ‘luck’.
And at least, I now know something about the elusive Bill Bloomfield.
May it be easy, my friends.
Marnie
Email: towntalk@sheppnews.com.au
Phone: Text or call 0409 317187
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