Tribute by Matthew Bateman
My Dad was, in so many ways, an extraordinary man. You hear this said about many people, and about the full and happy life they lead, but in dad's case, every word of that is true.
There are some consistent themes in this story, and I will try and tie them all together – his great loves were Lyn, work, his family and friends (and I will talk about the boys in due course), travel & languages, exercise and sport of all descriptions, with a particular softspot for Crystal Palace football club.
I want to tell you a story about a boy from South London, whose father was a house painter, and mother a schoolteacher, who went to Whitgift school on a scholarship, and then on to Cambridge, where, he went to his beloved Peterhouse college, and read history, a passion that remained with him throughout his life. He admitted to me once that he didn't take as good a degree as he might have, due to a spectacular brunette girlfriend in his final year with whom he would take long walks - another one of his great loves.
Lyn told me a beautiful story about their travels together, where every night Dad and she would sit down and he would tell her where they were going the next day, and something of its history – in some cases, as on a recent trip to Turkey, he wasn't just referring to the guidebooks either, he read widely about the ancient world, and in some cases according to Lyn, knew more than some of their guides.
From Cambridge, Dad was offered a job in advertising with Compton, then the 12th largest advertising agency in the world, where he had an extraordinary career, culminating as Head of the German branch of Compton, and then 5 years as head of Europe, based in Paris.
Dad met and married my mother in London, and moved to Australia for a little while, where he famously cast Olivia Newton-John (or so he claims) in a shampoo ad at the age of 18, it was also where Jess was born. He then took over the German offices of Compton, where his first step was to ban the creative department from drinking beer at their desks! From this rocky start he went on to great things, and was responsible for creating some brilliant campaigns, including most memorable the Ariel woman, and had great times working on the John Deere and Procter & Gamble accounts.
In an industry not renowned for longevity of tenure, Dad worked with Compton for over 24 years. Being pushed out in a boardroom spill was one of the worst things that ever happened to Dad, and I genuinely believe that it took him many years to get over that, though he did it in spectacular style.
After a brief hiatus at FCB in Paris, the decision was made to start again in Australia – in many ways to try and save Mum and Dad's marriage, but also because Dad thought he had spotted a business opportunity in the UK – which was Bounty.
As with all things Dad did, he thought big, and he was absolutely determined not to fail. He came to live in a new country, started a business from scratch in 1983, and turned it into a spectacular success. Along the way, Mum and Dad's marriage broke up, but the business went from strength to strength, going from serviced offices in the MLC with 3 staff including Claire and Lesley to St Martin's tower to Surry Hills, where Dad employed over 35 people and build a specialist sampling and publishing business from scratch into a very successful company.
He did things his way, and he would tell me later not always the right way, but he believed in what he was doing, he believed in his research and he believed in his people. He certainly did it this way, and those who worked with him might remember the meetings when he would 'sum everything up' and one great day when he got so angry that he slammed his door so hard he couldn't get out of his office as he had bent the door frame.
Bounty was also where Dad met the woman whom I truly believe was Dad's soulmate in Lyn – Lyn tells another great story about when he first hired her, she was looking for a bit of part-time work, and applied for a job as a Bounty lady, and when Dad came to interview her, he spent 3 hours telling her about Bounty and targeted sampling and on and on, and she really didn't think he was going to stop, but thought that she needed a job, so would just let him rabbit on. I think it's fair to say that Dad found his match in Lyn, and I really think that one of his regrets was that he and Lyn didn't have more time together, and didn't have a child of their own. He finally managed to convince Lyn to move to Sydney 15 years ago, a very brave decision on her part, and that united two of his great loves – his work and Lyn, and many of you will know that Lyn ended up as head of the field force and operations of Bounty.
I knew that they were meant for each other when I lived with Dad, and realized that they would spend between 2-3 hours a day talking on the phone each and every day, and even in the last couple of weeks, Dad would still call Lyn every day. Despite their occasionally spectacular arguments, you would never find two people that loved each other more.
One of the lovely things about this has been that Jess and I, and Bernadette, now have another family in Brad, Justine, Kylie and Peter and their kids.
It's history now that Dad sold Bounty to Emap 7 years ago, and as promised, took us all to South America on the last great family holiday. I remember that trip with great fondness, and remember walking a lot and talking a lot. Dad continued to work at Emap right up until the end of last year, and also expanded his and Lyn's business interests by investing in a company in the UK called Puppy pack. Work was his great hobby and passion and he was still very interested in all that was going on right up until the last couple of months.
He and Lyn have been able to indulge their love of travel since he sold Bounty, and his love of languages of course – whilst Dad has never had Jess' natural aptitude with languages, he worked incredibly hard at his Spanish, and also spoke fluent German and French.
I want to talk a little bit about what he meant to me – Dad was a great Father, and even though we didn't talk about it a lot, there was never any doubt in my mind that he loved me – I can remember that from a very young age. I can also remember wrestling, and playing any ball sport you might care to mention, and talking about words and books – a shared passion. We also shared a passion for Hornblower, Tolkien, and the immortal Dick Francis, which was one of Dad's little guilty pleasures, and we were very loyal to Dick, even in the later years, when his books weren't very good, it was still one of the rituals to buy the latest Dick Francis as soon as it came it out, read it in two days and then pass it to me.
We also started running together when I was about 7 years old in the Stadtwald in Frankfurt – another one of Dad's great passions, and we ran together pretty regularly from then until my mid-20s when Dad's knees and back made it hard to keep running. This did not stop us walking huge distances together, usually with a little blonde dog in tow. I clearly remember a day on the avenue Foche when I beat dad in a normal run.
You probably don't know that in 5 years of school in Australia, Dad did not miss one basketball game that I ever played in, or a single (very slow) race that I ever ran in. He did miss a couple of rugby games, but I think that had more to do with my ineptitude than his actually missing any games.
Jess and I were very lucky kids, and grew up all around the world.
Dad and I lived together for a good few years, and I just wanted to tell you about some of the other things we did together – he and my dear departed uncle Kevin would go out to dinner every week on a Thursday night, a different Restaurant every week, with the caveat that it had to be under $30 a head, and I cannot remember ever being bored, and we went to some great places. We also went to the theatre together, read books together, and of course walked a little blonde dog together.
I also know that Bernadette would like me to add that from the start Dad accepted her with never a batted eyelid, as being a part of the family, although coming from a good Catholic country family, Bernadette did find his occasional night time domestic nudity a bit confronting if she got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or get a glass of water!
Several of my close friends have also mentioned that from day 1, Dad was never anything but completely welcoming, despite some of them having less than auspicious introductions to Dad, including one who was introduced to Dad after having thrown up in his ensuite….
Dad was also a great Poppy, although he was very honest – he wasn't particularly interested in them as babies, but only once they could talk and walk, and I know that Hyde Park and St Mary's Cathedral will always be Poppy's fountain and Poppy's cathedral. Jess and both grew up without grandfathers, so that is one of my great sadnesses on this very sad day, that he won't get to see Ethan and Caitlyn and Jess's kids grow up properly.
I also want to talk a little bit about the boys – Ray, Bridgey and Jeff from school days, Martin (now Lord Thomas of Gresford) from university, and Pagey from Hockey. As far back as I can remember, all of these extraordinary men have been a part of our lives, and mine is certainly much the richer for it – if a man is truly to be measured by his friends, these and others like Bill, then Dad must have been an extraordinary man.
I can clearly remember Dad's 60th Birthday in Peterhouse, which was one of the highlights of our honeymoon, and being surrounded by people that Dad loved, and that loved him – I can't even begin to explain how many conversations started with – ah, your father, such an amazing man. I can remember sitting there and being so fiercely proud of Dad at that time.
Dad also loved his sister Mandy, and she idolized him – they didn't always see eye to eye, and certainly took very different paths, but they loved each other deeply nonetheless, and it was sad that Mandy was unable to make it today, but we will be having a family ceremony in due course.
I'm going to sum up with a few key words that will hopefully give you a feel for Dad:
Passion, drive, competitiveness, insatiable curiosity, eccentricity, and the ability to never be embarrassed.
If you're listening Dad, I love you and I'm already missing you.
