A TRIBUTE TO JOHN FRANCIS GLENNON (31.5.1931 - 8.12.2001)

John Francis Glennon celebrates his 60th Birthday under the watchfulgaze of the Blessed Virgin and Child at the "Boonaroo "Homestead.
He was to die only 6yrs later on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

John Francis Glennon and his wife Therese Mary Glennon were both the children of Irish born parents. They were therefore, by blood, Irish. Two finer Aussies you will never meet. We do meet very many people in our lives and enjoy the company of many. But there are exceptional friends whom we feel privileged to know. That was the case with John and Therese.

They were in so many ways larger than life! They lived life , Larger than life, they had a large family , several house at one stage, the grand "Boonaroo"Homestead was "Home", there was a town house in East Brisbane - "Scotby"designed by Dods and commanding views of the City across the River, and "A Summer's Place" the very pleasant Beachfront House at Tugun or was it more properly Currumbin? The latter I think.

They were almost annual passengers on whatever was the latest giant Cruise Liner from one point of the Globe to another - enjoying the experience, including the various well-heeled fellow passengers and their eccentricities. They had earlier in their married lives spent a year living in Ireland, but John noted that the Irish love you visiting, but they do not like you staying and diminishing the limited commercial possibilities by competing!

I first met John and Therese when I was Manager for Queensland of "the French Bank"Banque Nationale de Paris.At that time it was owned by the French Government and was the Second Largest Bank in the World. ( I t came to Australia in the 1800s as the Comptoir Nationale dÉscompte de Paris and is now BNP Parisbas).The Glennons had been clients of the Bank for some years. I was able to consolidate their banking with us and expand it.

When I first visited their extensive holdings of land at Nerang , I was amazed to find a magnificent hilltop in the property which commanded views of the entire Gold Coast. On this site they built "Boonaroo"which became the family home. The house was as "big"in character as John and Therese themselves. It had been constructed with all sorts of elements, from wainscotting from a Castle in Wales, to Stained Glass and Doors from the Historic Royal Exchange Building in Bridge Street, Sydney - demolished in an excess of crass development mania in the 1950s.

These elements and very many others, Therese had carefully and assiduously researched and searched for, and stored in a Coca Cola Warehouse at Nerang, until they were needed.

JOHN IN FINE FORM AT THE OPENING OF EXTENSIONS TO STUARTHOLME  COLLEGE

John had a remarkable commercial history. He was by profession an Accountant and had operated a practice in Brisbane with his old mate Bill O'Hare for a number of years.But I first encountered his commercial flair long before I knew him.

In the late 1950's and early 1960's I was working as a Teller in the Commonwealth Bank . In those days Australian Banks rarely accepted deposits to accounts at another Bank, on the rare occasions it was done, special forms needed to be completed and higher than normal fees were charged. Then suddenly young women started coming in with printed deposit books for the account of CARRIGANS LIMITED at the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited ( in the 1974 Banking Crisis it was absorbed by the ANZ I think). Our Supervisor at George & Market Sts. was a rather Bolshy sort of Labor voter, and he was incensed that someone had PRINTED BOOKS of these deposit slips saying that they could be deposited at any Bank! Oh, but someone remembered a Circular to all Branches approving the arrangement....."Harrumphh! Our local Leftie was not impressed...these darned private Banks etc., etc. The end of life as we know it..

Years later I was to learn from John himself that he had bought CARRIGANS and negotiated with all the Banks to get their agreement. Then he arranged a national network of door-to-door salesmen who hawked cotton goods for household use, sheets, pillow cases, towels etc., marketing them to young women on a plan basis, for their "Glory Box"as it was then called. This was a collection of household goods for use when they finally got married. One can imagine to-day's radical feminists choking on their skimmed yoghurt at the very mention of the concept. However the traffic through our branches showed how brilliantly successful it was.

In later years John turned to property development and interim farming to keep himself occupied.

The core of John's and Therese' lives was their intense Catholic Faith and their family. We shared those same core principles and so, became more than client and banker, but firm family friends. This friendship lasted long after I had resigned from the Bank and worked as Canonical Financial Administrator of the Archdiocese of Brisbane. At the time my application for that position was being processed ( one of 52 applicants) John and Therese were on a Cruise which had taken them to Venice. I had the remarkable experience of sitting in the study of the Banque's house in Canberra ( when I was doing a major overhaul of the Canberra Branch) poring over a three dimensional map of Venice and phoning John's Hotel,just as he had walked in the door of the hotel which I could see plainly on the map - it was like Satellite detection and surveillance! I had to ask him if he would telephone the Vicar for Administration to confirm his reference, because they had not been able to contact him. I got the position obviously.

John and Therese lived a life few can afford, but they were always generous in their treatment of the poor, the Church and their acquaintances, and people they did business with. John loved Jazz, Big Bands, dancing and had been one of the first devotees of water skiing on the Gold Coast in the early days. For all that, they were serious people, Serious in their approach to their spiritual lives, planning for their family, developing their business activities - numerous of which I have passed over, and serious in their charitable works. I got to know about these only from a banking point of view, because often, one did not even tell the other what good works they were doing, let alone anyone else.Actually one of the few occasions John was seriously annoyed was when he gave a VERY substantial sum , supposed to be kept "anonymous"to the boys' Marist Brothers College at Ashgrove and the school made it public who the Donor was.On another occasion he offered a valuable parcel of land, ideal for the purpose, to the local Parish only to have the offer rejected after a bit of local non-party "politics". He was hurt and disgusted.

JOHNNIE GLENNON WE MISS YOU ..AND YOU DEAR LAUGHTER!

John would often take problems down to the beach an"talk to the waves "as he put it, and tidy the matter up by saying the Rosary as he walked along the water's edge, He would often do that walk in the early morning and prided himself on being able to select from those walking the beach , the ones who were holidaying Priests.( Several Religious Orders had low cost accommodation by the less glitzy beaches) . On one morning he decided two fellows walking toward him were Priest and as they drew near , gave the a nod and a smile and said "Dominus Vobiscum".As they walked on he heard the response" Et cum spiritu tuo."He was chuffed! Neither he nor they seemed to consider that they might simply have encountered an old Altar Boy/Boys!!But I'll bet he was right!

John and Therese were dear family friends we loved them both,and ejoyed their marvellous hospitality on numerous occasions It is hard to see that "boonaroo"itself is now gone, swept asid for re-development. But the knowledge that John and Therese temselves are gone still huts and leaves a void once filled with love and laughter, and such good times!

Requiescant in Pace