Shep's Place Family Tree

On her return to S.A. she went to care for an aged great-aunt at 44 Tidworth Crescent, Colonel Light Gardens. Bill came to join her there after demobilisation. This house was purchased by them from Betty's Aunt, Eunice Lakeman on June 9th 1954.

Bill, on his return to civilian life commenced an engineering business at Pirie Street, Adelaide in partnership with Albert Edward Williams from late 1946 to Feb., 1948, when owing to the severity of import restrictions on raw material the business was sold. In April 1948.

He entered the P.M.G. Department Adelaide as a Postal Officer and with promotion reached Senior Technician. He transferred to Weapons Research Establishment, Salisbury, S.A. ‎(now Defence Science & Technology Organisation)‎ in Feb. 1963, was foreman Grade C for 6 years then foreman grade A in 1969 and finally was gazetted in Oct. 1970 as Technical Officer and was in charge of the Electronic Workshop until retirement.

Whilst working with the P.M.G. his invention to greatly shorten the testing time of new telephones was accepted by the Dept. and earned him $200 bonus.

He retired due to ill health Jan. 1980.

44 Tidworth Cr. was sold in Jan. 1980 after having resided there for 34 years.

He and Betty went to live at Strathalbyn where they had purchased a hectare of land in July 1973 on which to build a 7 1/4 inch miniature railroad, which had been built with Rod's help, then a further 2 acres purchased from neighbor Robert Rankine adjoining the original land, and it was on this area that a new house was to be erected.

Whilst their System Built house was being built they lived in the weekender for 6 weeks. The house was duly delivered at the end of Feb. 1980 and then bricked and connected to the services. The new address was "Strathburn" or the "Paris Creek Railroad" 25 Manse Rd.Strathalbyn. Bill's 17 years at Strathalbyn was the happiest period in his life. He and Betty were married 50 years in 1995 and the family gave them a Golden Wedding celebration with relations and friends at the local, restaurant, a very happy occasion. Betty in 1999 is still at "Strathburn" but will consider somewhere with less land eventually.

Bill was an active member of the Freemason's Lodge and Betty involved in town activities, in particular secretary of the National Trust Museum.
Bill died at the Strathalbyn Hospital on 25 Feb 1997 aged 75 years. Private cremation. Betty continues to live there.

Name: MULLER, WILBUR FERGUSON
Service: Royal Australian Navy
Service Number: PA4828
Date of Birth: 27 Oct 1921
Place of Birth: GLENELG, SA
Date of Enlistment: 1 Aug 1944
Locality on Enlistment: Unknown
Home Port/Port Division: PORT ADELAIDE, SA
Next of Kin: BETTY
Date of Discharge: 30 Aug 1946
Rank: ERA IV
Posting at Discharge: HMAS Warrego

Betty has asked me to read you Bill's Story which she wrote a few days ago. But before I do I would like to say a few things about Bill on my own account.

First of all, Bill was above all a good and faithful friend. I am sure that everyone here would have their own story to tell of Bill's friendship. I am always amazed at how Bet and Bill welcomed me into their family. It was not just a wary tolerance of some stray that their daughter had brought home but a complete opening of their hearts to another human being completely overlooking my peculiarities and accepting me without judgement or reservation. I think that this is why the people of Strath welcomed Bet and Bill into their community, because they recognised kindred spirits, open, friendly, welcoming and active contributors to the town.

Bill was also very generous with his time, his materials, his tools and his talents. He was always making something for somebody, helping them use his workshop to make something or teaching someone how to use particular tools. Bill was very resourceful. There was no problem which he couldn't solve, nothing that he couldn't make or fix.

Until the last few years Bill was very energetic. He took on projects which would daunt anybody else. The Paris Creek Railway is a testament to his resourcefulness and energy.

Despite his sometimes bluff exterior Bill always had a twinkle in his eye. Even when something really upset him he could always see the funny side. He was the first to see the joke and, given the opportunity, was very quick with a pun.

Bill was completely unpretentious. For all his achievements he never showed off. He simply did things for the pleasure of doing them. On open days at the Paris Creek Railroad there was no focus on his creations, only on the pleasure it gave people.

Bill was undoubtedly a believer. He believed in a good, all-powerful, creator God. He saw God through the power and the beauty of the world and through the love that is in people's hearts. He also knew that God has given us the freedom to be weak and foolish, as we are, but that he calls us to be with him.

Wilbur, a worker and a helper - Always called Bill, never appreciating that he was named after a friend of his fathers. He was the third son of his parents, born in 1921 at Glenelg. His father had been away at W.W.I. for a period, his brothers were 7 and 6 years older than him. Sadly when he was two years old his mother died after the birth of her fourth son, who also died. Bill was cared for by his maternal grandparents until his grandmother died, he then went into the care of his paternal grandparents, but that grandmother also died the same year. He went to live with his father and brothers at St. Peters. He attended the East Adelaide primary school and then Norwood High School. It was the depression years with his father out of work and he told of the many household moves in those years, but always in the St. Peter's area. Later his father married again and Bill lived with them, his brothers boarded elsewhere. Bill left High School at 15, and work was hard to find, but he did work as odd job boy in a friend's chemist shop until finally getting a job with Horwood Bagshaws Engineering firm. He felt he was very lucky to be offered an apprenticeship at 17 to be a boilermaker and welder and he finished his trade in 1943. He then wanted to join the forces but Bagshaws was a reserve industry so it wasn't until 1944 that he was released. He joined the Navy and because of his engineering training he went in as a Petty Officer. Following three months training at Flinder's.Naval Depot, he was posted to a survey ship H.M.A.S " Warrego" and was in charge of maintaining the ship's engines and boilers. The ship surveyed around the Pacific Islands, then in 1946 around Australia and Tasmania. Bill was demobbed in 1946. He met Betty in 1942. He always, laughingly,_ said he caught and courted her young and trained her well! They were married just a week after peace was declared in August 1945 whilst he was on leave, so it was a very hurried affair with only one week's honeymoon. When he came home in 1946 Betty was living at Reade Park, ‎(now Colonel Light Gardens)‎ looking after an elderly great aunt and they lived on there after the aunt died for 34 years. His first occupation was his own engineering business with a partner, but money was hard to borrow after the war so it was not a success and it was sold. He then joined the P.M.G. and became a technician, then a super tech in the telephone workshops in what became Telecom and is now Telstra. In 1963 he applied for a position at W.R.E., now Defence Science & Technology Organisation, and was accepted and became foreman in the Electronic Workshops at Salisbury. He was there until he retired in 1980 becoming Technical Officer in charge of that workshop.

Bill and Betty were blessed with two daughters and a son, the
younger daughter died when she was 9 years old - a very much loved child, and later a grandson and two grand daughters.

Bill had become a Freemason at 21 years. It was a family tradition which has not continued. His grandfather and father were both masons. When Rod was 7 he became a cub in the scouting movement and Bill became a scoutmaster, second in command of the Hawthorn Scout Troop. He discontinued his involvement in Freemasonry, feeling that his spare time was better spent helping youth. He stayed with the troop for approximately 10 years. His backyard hobby in his loved workshop was engineering, particularly model engineering. He was a member of the S.A. Society of Model Engineers and always wanted his own model railway. So, with the children off his hands, he decided he wanted some land to build a railway as Bet, as he used to say, would not let him build one around her garden at Colonel Light Gardens. In 1973 the land at Manse Road, Strathalbyn was purchased for that purpose. Rod, also in the engineering trade, joined him in building the railroad and the rolling stock and every weekend and holiday was spent at Strathalbyn doing this. They both got much enjoyment from seeing it come into being. Bill retired early and neighbour Bob offered him a further two acres of land adjoining the existing two and half acres, so that was where the new house was built and he and Bet came to live permanently in Strathalbyn in 1980. The railway was extended and lots of fun it gave to children young and old until two years ago, when the insurance company would no longer cover it for liability so it has had very little use since then. Bill was sad that he could no longer take the kindy children for their annual ride. A few years after residence Bill joined St. John's Lodge in Strathalbyn and made many friends. He gained a lot of satisfaction from his membership and he also helped the lodge in many ways. He was master for the 1989-90 year. It is only since September last year ‎(1996)‎, because of his illness, that he has not attended. He and Bet were married 51 years ago and the family gave them a golden wedding celebration in August 1995, a memorable occasion. His years of retirement have seen him spend his spare time in his workshop making models and teaching his friends to do likewise and also teaching some of the younger generation how to use a metal turning lathe and other engineering machinery. He was never idle until his illness and he found it very difficult not to be at his bench or lathe with a tool in his hand. He always said his years in Strathalbyn were the happiest in his life and he loved his small acreage which he and Bet landscaped around the railroad. He greatly appreciated the now mature trees which blossomed to feed his bees, his "girls" as he called them, another hobby. Bill's life has been a full and rewarding one, happy in his own accomplishments and happy in what he could do for family, friends and neighbours.
Vale Bill.