The death occurred on January 20, at the Carrington Retirement Village, Grasmere, of prominent former Boorowa district resident Kevin Edmund Lawler, at the age of 87 years.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Many Boorowa residents will well remember Kevin for his role in the Boorowa Pharmacy, conducted by his father Bert, and his active membership of many community and sporting organisations.
Kevin was born at Barellan in November 1934, the third son, and third child of Edmund Herbert and Alice Lawler.
The family moved to Boorowa in the early 1940s, and Kevin attended St Joseph's Primary School, receiving his secondary education at St Patrick's College, Goulburn.
He produced significant performances in school sporting activities and served as an NCO in the school cadet unit.
On leaving school, Kevin took up a pharmacy apprenticeship with his father and later at pharmacies in Melbourne and Sydney, eventually graduating from Sydney University in 1957.
During those years, he was an active member of the Boorowa Rugby League Club, the Boorowa Musical and Dramatic Society and the newly formed Boorowa Apex Club.
In 1961, he married local girl Vivian Joyce Croker and in their early married years the couple were joint secretaries of the Boorowa Maytime Festival.
They were later to have five children, sons Michael, Christopher and Andrew, and daughters Stephanie and Elizabeth.
Kevin and his family sought fresh fields of endeavour and in 1965, they moved to the growing community of Camden, where Kevin was appointed as manager of a local pharmacy.
He later branched out on his own, establishing a local business which proved to be highly successful.
This was due largely to Kevin's friendly personality and business acumen and his endeavours to keep abreast of the latest developments in the pharmaceutical industry for the benefits of his customers.
He and his family became involved in many district organisation such as the local pony club in which some of the Lawler children were active.
Kevin became as valued administrator of the licensed Camden Rugby League Club and as a player and committee member of the Camden Bowling Club.
In the latter capacity, he regularly brought Camden bowling teams back to his home town for friendly competition.
His finesse on the bowling green saw him play a significant part in the success of the Camden No. 2 fours pennant team in the NSW State Titles in 1975.
However, business and community activities were not always on his mind and over the years he organised many family holiday trips, some to areas of interest in Australia and also overseas, including New Zealand, Penang, Singapore, Malaysia and later Scotland and the north of England.
Kevin enjoyed regular breaks from the pharmacy with periodic fishing trips to the Great Barrier Reef.
He could have been described as a good 'all-rounder' who managed to allot time to business, community, sport and family in equal measure.
Kevin is survived by his wife Joyce, children Michael, Christopher, Stephanie and Elizabeth, eleven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
He is also survived by four brothers, Peter, Richard and Terry (Canberra) and John (Melbourne).
One son, Andrew, pre-deceased him.
His funeral was conducted on February 2 with a Requiem Mass in St Paul's Catholic Church, Camden, a church he had served faithfully, where many tributes were paid to the valuable contribution which he had made over many years to the business, community, and sporting life of the Boorowa and Camden districts.
