FTC Committee members past and present were saddened by the death of Jock Wastell on 22 May 2009 at the age of 85 from prostate cancer. We offer our condolences to Jock's family.
The Fitzroy Tennis Club remembers Jock Wastell as a great volunteer, a passionate supporter of the Club, a dedicated Committee member, Life Member (1988) and Club President from 1988-1991. Importantly, he was also one of the small group of people who approached the Yarra Council in 1977 to re-establish the Fitzroy Tennis Club – an endeavour which took many hours of work and liaising with the Council. The defunct courts were in dire need of repair with weeds and grass growing through most of the court surfaces.
Jock served as a member of that first Committee of the “reborn” Fitzroy Tennis Club and was a Committee member for many years, being responsible for court and Clubhouse maintenance, which he undertook with vigour and enthusiasm. He set a high standard for court maintenance. He had a “get on and do it” attitude around the Club. He not only did the maintenance, but he also participated in many other club projects. He was always putting forward suggestions that would help streamline and enhance operations at the Club. The Club is also indebted to him for the photos he took of the old clubhouse (which can be seen on the ”history page” of the FTC website www.fitzroytc.net), as they now form part of the historical records of the Club. In one of the photos the back of his much-loved red MGB can be seen.
In fact, his red MGB was regularly at the Club, a testament to the amount of time he gave to the Club. On at least one occasion, he even turned up as Father Christmas in his red MG sportscar to the children's Christmas Party.
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Jock’s son, Rohan Wastell, provided us with information about Jock’s younger days. He said that Jock was born Albert John Wastell on 16 December 1923 in Ararat. Jock joined the Navy in 1941, aged 18 and became a bandsman, playing the saxophone and violin. During World War 2, on the cruiser Shropshire, Jock fought against the Japanese in Leyte Gulf in the biggest naval battle of any war, which liberated the Philippines from the Japanese. He was also present at the signing of the Treaty between Japan and USA. |
During the 50s and 60s, Jock’s tennis interests included membership of Chelsworth Park Tennis Club and Greythorn Park Tennis Club, which bestowed on him a Life Membership for the maintenance work he performed there.
Residents of North Fitzroy knew Jock well because he was their local pharmacist, having set up his pharmacy in 1952 and continued there in Queen’s Parade, North Fitzroy for 43 years. Rohan remembers that Jock’s pharmacy was like an offshoot of the FTC where competition players used to collect their tennis balls before the big match on Saturday afternoon.
Premiers Winter 1978
L to R. : David Fitzpatrick, Virginia Routley, Janine Eastaugh, Joan and Jock Wastell |
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He loved to play tennis and eagerly headed down to the courts on Saturday afternoon to play in the inter-club tennis competition.
He also participated in the Club Championships. In fact, he and his tennis partner (Gordon Ritter) won the Delmo Carli Memorial Trophy in 1998 – his big “wind-up” serve helping to clinch the Trophy.
He was a regular attendee at the monthly Sunday social round robins and at Monday night tennis socials.
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In the late 1990s, he retired with his wife, Joan, to Queensland. Joan, also a member of FTC, sadly lost her battle with cancer last year. She was very supportive of the Club, a keen tennis competitor and always eager to help Jock in his Club endeavours.
In memory of Jock and Joan Wastell and ,in particular, Jock’s extensive contribution to the Club, the FTC Committee has decided to name the Mixed Doubles event in future Club Championships as the “Wastell Cup”.
Liz Morrow, for FTC Committee,
and Rohan Wastell
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