I received an email from John Inglis today advising that Geoff had passed away last week.
Sad news and I extend my sympathies and condolences to Daphne and the family.
When I started at Arnold's in February 1964 Geoff was the Sales Manager and I recall with total clarity an incident which occurred when I was working at Buckinghams, helping to install the first Ziehl-Abegg units as a major modernisation.
Amongst others, the crew consisted of George Farham ("Flange"), Dave Rutter (for whom I was the allocated 1st. year apprentice), Ken Rousham, Ray Johnson and a couple of others whose names escape me.
Because these were the first installations to incorporate the new Ziehl-Abegg motors they were used as demos and it wasn't unknown for Geoff to bring a prospective customer to the site to see them.
Thursdays was pay-day and Tommy Moffatt usually delivered the pays before lunch.
On this particular Thursday I was "asked" to stay in the motor-room whilst the "men" went across the road to the pub and I was given instructions that if a boss turned up to say they were in the pit or down the shaft somewhere, high-tail it out of the motor-room and get down to the pub quick smart to let them know.
It may have worked except that I lay down on a bed of cotton waste and the next thing I know a toe is nudging me and a voice is saying that if I have nothing better to do then I'd better go and get the rest of the team from the hotel. The owner of the toe and voice was Geoff, with a prospective client.
My blood ran cold as I was sure I'd be sacked but he never said another thing about it.
We often laughed about that incident over the later years of Geoff's career following the take-over by Otis.
Geoff became one of the gang of sales reps working out of Goulburn St. but he always was considered by us all as the senior representative and was respected as such.
We had some great times - all of us - during those heady days of the late 1970s and on into the 1980s, right up until Geoff retired and even after that time, when we'd get together at the annual Veteran's Dinner.
