Peter Hitchiner and Bob Murray have passed on the sad news of Peter Warrilow’s passing on Tuesday. They received the advice from Peter Warrilow’s family via PK Wong.
The funeral service for Peter is being tentatively arranged for Tuesday 26 May 2020 at 1pm at Pymble Catholic Church.
Because of the Coronavirus, only 20 people are allowed to attend the service in person so the church service will be by invitation only.
To accommodate those who cannot attend but would like to view the funeral service it will be live streamed so that people can watch it on a computer or smart mobile phone. The details are still being organised and Peter’s son, Michael, will advise PK of the login details once they are confirmed. PK shall then forward the details on to those who would like to join the service online.
As opposed to sending flowers the family would prefer a donation to a charity to be nominated by the family in coming days.
A picture of Peter from the Oct 1973 Transit:
In 1962 the Credit upon completed its first year of operation with assets of $73,000 and a membership of 311.
Peter Warillow became Chairman of the OTC Credit Union Board in 1972. By 1987 the membership had grown to 2587 with assets of about $7 million.
Under Peter’s stewardship the Credit Union evolved from using a rather antiquated ledger machine to a fully computerized online system but the spirit of ‘mutual benefit to members’ remained throughout its existence.
6 Comments
I remember Peter Warrilow well, Engineering Branch and technically a key starting point for Optus – the OTC DomSat group – in the MLC Centre somewhere around 1980/1?
I would like to participate in the online service.
Regards
Mike Elliott
Apart from his role as a leader in engineering matters, I think Peter Warrilow was chair of the Credit Union for many years
Regards
David Richardson
In 1993/94 I was elected to the Board of OTC Credit Union, and got to know Peter Warillow quite well! Peter was the Founding Member and Chairman of the Board of OTC CU for many years, and then a Director, until OTC CU merged with Intech CU. I believe that around 1960’s, Peter and a few others decided to form in OTC – an employee owned CU. This is the best way for OTC’s employees and their families – be familiar with “banking and finance” and, be able to save, to borrow…. from its owned CU. Peter gained strong support from OTC’s Board and Management. OTC provided free of charge – an office and all Office equipment, including telephone services, pen, pencils, rubbers, paper, staples..….(may be not tea/coffee and biscuits). Many people in OTC got their first Home, Car, major House Repairs, Travel holidays….including Wedding and other major expenses by borrowing from OTC CU at a fair interest rate, and with a big TRUST of not being robbed by a Financial Institution. OTC/Telstra/Intech CUs are now part of BankAust – a good member-only-Bank.
Peter worked in Telecom for many years. Then he saw the “Shining Light” – he joined OTC. Peter was a good leader, especially with people working for him. In Telecom, he was a Team Leader for an Outside Plant Project, and was very popular with the men working for him! He liked to tell great jokes about his time there!
Peter was an intelligent, decent, honest and charitable man! He cared a lot for his fellowmen -– he was born that way. Peter was also a good Christian, he would be very pleased to sit in front of his “his father” (not on the Right nor Left) and making judgement on us, down here!!
Our sincere sympathy to Judy and Family,
Robyn & Duyet LE VAN
Peter was a wonderful man, and a good friend and mentor from my days at OTC as an Engineer. Peter had a reputation for being a good manager of people, who led by example and backed his team to the full. Peter loved a challenge and his drive, energy, and enthusiasm, was an inspiration to his colleagues. His sense of integrity, humour and respect for his fellow man, and love of life, made for a fun working environment, where everyone was encouraged to grow, learn and improve their personal and professional skill set.
I first encountered Peter in 1978, as a junior Engineer on a coastal radio project in Western Australia [Gnangara, Bassendean and Rottnest Island] . With my immediate boss [Tim Irwin] on paternal leave and my 2 up manager on long service leave, Peter [my 3 up manager] rolled up his sleeves and joined me in Perth for a 3 week stint, to tackle the challenges of a complex project implementation. On the eve of St Patricks day [a Friday afternoon] a mighty electrical storm destroyed the chip sets of some sensitive radio receivers, which put our Monday cutover at severe risk. Peter used some colourful language to let the Almighty know he was none too impressed with the timing of the lightning strike! Undaunted, Peter made contact with the local Telecom stores and managed to source some lightning arrestors to protect the equipment. We all worked into the night, nourished by pizzas sourced by Peter from the local take away store. To this day, I remember Peter stripped down to his singlet and shorts on the end of a soldering iron, only to be told by the Super Tech, that he had managed to solder the lightning arrestors on the wrong side of the distribution block ! Peter got a “A “ for effort and gained enormous respect from the team, but was banned from the soldering iron thereafter!
On a personal front, Peter was always on the look- out for opportunities for his staff. Late in 1978, he approached me regarding an opportunity promulgated by the then CEO of OTC [Harold White-a member of Sydney Rotary] to participate in a Rotary Group Study Exchange Program for young professionals to the US. Peter subsequently nominated me for the Exchange Program and after a competitive selection process I was awarded a place on the Exchange Program with a Group Leader and four other young professionals. We travelled to Ohio and Washington [including a visit to the White House] for 6 weeks of cultural and professional development. It is fair to say, that this opportunity was a game changer for my own personal life and career progression.
Many of you will know that Peter was the driving force behind the establishment of the OTC Credit Union and became its first Chairman. True to form, Peter continued to nurture the Manager and staff to put the operations of the Credit Union on a sound professional and commercial base. With a keen eye to succession arrangements, Peter encouraged a number of OTC staff and managers [including myself] to join the Board. Once again this provided new challenges and development opportunities for me and to others.
Peter was never one to pass on the opportunity of meeting new people. I remember him telling me that when he visited London on a work trip, he had some free time on a weekend and visited a pub near London’s Hyde Park. Peter was soon ensconced in a deep and meaningful conversation with a Franciscan Friar, which led to several more beers and a rather slow start to Sunday morning!
Peter and I parted company when he moved to AUSSAT, but we continued with social contact. Even in retirement, Peter’s unbounded energy and enthusiasm saw him put the local SES on a much improved technical platform with a professionally engineered radio network.
Peter also put his talents to work with his local church at Pymble. Around 2001, Peter was responsible for helping one of the early Salvatorian Priests from Poland [Fr Tadeusz ] to improve the Parish Website. Ever the consummate planner, Peter lived his Christian values to full and made sure he was in the good books with the Almighty!
In latter years, as Peter’s health deteriorated, he found he was no longer able to drive. Undaunted, Peter moved to his red motorised scooter and was regularly seen doing his best to exceed the speed limit in and around Turramurra! Travelling with this mode of transport, did not always go to plan. On one occasion, Peter decided to take a short cut across country. Unfortunately, Peter failed to anticipate the terrain and managed to bog his buggy, which had to abandoned, pending a recovery exercise!
Peter was always proud of his family and their success. We know that Judy and the family will all take great comfort from Peter’s enduring love and his many achievements at a personal level as well as in his professional life.
May he rest in peace.
Zenon and Elisabeth Kochman
I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Peter Warrilow.
It is also sad that we cant give him the kind of send-off that he deserved.
Vale and RIP, Peter Warrilow, a fine and exceptional gentleman, who will be greatly missed.
Tom Barker
Watched the full service & the streaming was excellent clear as a bell & sound great.
A few bufferings but no problem.
I spent 10 years as a Director on the Credit Union with Peter & had many a glass with him on Fridays after work at the pub opposite in Martin Place (Australian I think) when he was a Cadet Engineer.
He used to needle me to make him an OTVA member (it was 20 years then) & the jostling went on until the day I retired.
Great person & leader. We were very good friends but lost track of him when I retired.
The children spoke well of him in the Eulogy which was great to hear.
Cheers & again thanks.
Joe Collister