| Vale John MacDonnell [1935-2004] |
On the 12 November, 2004, the Australian Philatelic
scene lost one of its true gentlemen. After battling cancer John MacDonnell passed away. At the
funeral service at the family's request, Malcolm Groom was asked to speak on behalf of philately in Australia and the following is the
tribute that Malcolm delivered.
It is a privilege to be asked to speak on John's philatelic life. This is especially so when you read of his achievements, the contribution and the great commitment he gave to philately in Victoria, Australia and internationally.
He had an obvious love for philately, and showed that, by contributing his organizational and administrative skills to the benefit of the hobby through his work for the Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria, the Australian Philatelic Federation and the international exhibitions Australia 99 and Pacific Explorer 2005.
John had a great warmth and calmness especially when committees around him were getting excited about the trivial things. He was the consummate Secretary and I suspect that were he responsible for organizing this gathering we would have the minutes emailed to us tomorrow morning. If you needed an accurate recollection of a decision it was John who held the information.
John was also a leader of courage and vision. Many here today will be aware of his great leadership and vision in guiding the future planning of the acquisition of impressive new premises for the Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria, opened only last month.
I can best illustrate these remarks by presenting to you a summary of John's philatelic interests, achievements and contribution.
Exhibiting & Collecting
His philatelic interests were very Scandinavian in flavour with important postal history collections of Finland Railway Post Offices and Swedish travelling post offices. He also exhibited the postal history of Hamburg. He branched out into collections of Swedish and Finnish postal stationery and a thematic collection on the Vikings and Discovery of America. He also participated in the Modern Challenge with an exhibit of the Canadian Environment series. Two of these collections achieved the high award of large vermeil at international exhibitions in Bangkok in 2000 and Korea in 2002. His exhibiting experience began back in 1990 and I can find eighteen occasions where he showed his collections around Australia, New Zealand and through Asia right up to April of this year.
Judging
In the world of philatelic judging John has a long list of achievements, once again portraying his willingness to contribute and help the hobby he loved.
He served his judging apprenticeship back in 1993 and proceeded to work in exhibition juries every year until 2003. His skills saw him serve as Jury Secretary first in Melbourne 1996 and on three occasions after that. He was Jury Chairman at Victoria 2000 and in Newcastle last year. I had the privilege of being Jury Chairman in Brisbane with John as Jury Secretary and I could not have wished for a more cooperative, efficient and amiable friend with whom to work.
John also attended exhibitions in Manila in 1998 and Ottawa in 2000 to serve on the juries at those National exhibitions and to Dubai where he assisted the Jury and gave seminars.
Commissioner
I think it was as an international commissioner that John excelled and set the benchmark. In a position which required diplomacy, great organizational skills and calmness John represented Australia in Norway 1997, London in 2000 and in Seoul in 2002. I know he thoroughly enjoyed these experiences and made many friends overseas in the stamp world. I know all exhibitors who experienced John's skills as an international commissioner will vouch for his abilities in this sometimes onerous role. I have skipped mention of his Indian experiences in 2000 as it proved that even hardy philatelists can fall victim to the beguiling food and climate of New Delhi.
John was Chairman of the very successful National exhibition Stampshow Melbourne 2002 and served on other National exhibition committees in various capacities.
Australia 99 and Pacific Explorer 2005
When the organizing committees of the international exhibition in Melbourne in 1999 and for Sydney next year were formed it was John who was the first appointed because of his administrative skills. The success of Australia 99 was in no small way due to the efficiency of John in the huge task of Secretary. It was a full time role for the eighteen months leading up to it and we were fortunate to have John willingly accept the role again for Pacific Explorer. We have huge shoes to fill but an even greater desire to make next year's exhibition a success as John would have wished.
Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria
John's great love in philately was the Royal. He served 18 years on their Council which included 5 years as Secretary, 5 years as Treasurer and President twice in 1990 and 2001. In 1996 he was awarded the Purves Medal for outstanding service to the Society.
I recently attended the opening of their new building and heard glowing tributes to the work John did while President in setting up the steering committee that made the visionary decision to move and who led the Royal through all the hard decisions towards that move.
Australian Philatelic Federation
Not content with giving his service to his Society John made a significant and long standing contribution to Australian philately through the Australian Philatelic Federation. He was their Secretary from 1993 to 1998 and President for 2001 and 2002. They too benefited from his administrative and leadership skills and on most matters requiring knowledge of the APF it was John who knew the answers.
Yvonne
I have spoken of the contribution John made to philately. I am sure that I speak for all who experienced John's friendship at exhibitions, functions and meetings here and overseas in saying what a great bloke he was and what good company to talk stamps with and travel with. I am certain John would agree that without the support of his wife Yvonne that none of this would have been possible or worth doing.
I know Yvonne follows the philatelic commandments which include: Thou shalt not vacuum in the study; Thou shalt not examine the Visa card too closely; Thou shalt sit patiently through karaoke at Asian stamp exhibitions; Thou shalt accept the sight of stamps soaking in the laundry tub; Thou shalt smile nicely at eccentric stamp collectors; and Thou shalt realize that most of the telephone calls in the evening will be from stamp people.
We in the philatelic world all know what a lovely lady Yvonne is and will continue our support and friendships with her even if she does not become a stamp collector. Many will fondly remember philatelic occasions in the company of the MacDonnell's.
John made a great contribution to Australian philately and we will always remember that contribution and continue to enjoy our hobby as John did and would want us to continue to do. "
[ Source: APF News, December 2004 ]