Terry and Ellie were members of the Rockhampton Orchid Society. They both joined ROC in 1963. Terry’s main focus, at the age of 21, was how to grow ferns. This quickly changed to an interest in orchids after receiving a gifted orchid at the meeting.

Terry worked for Qld Rail. His love of roller skating took him to the roller-skating rink in Rockhampton where he met Ellie, a parish secretary for the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, Rockhampton. Terry and Ellie were married in 1961.

Ellie was a natural for this position, a beautiful caring person, although she had her own problems, being diagnosed at the age of 16 with type 1 diabetes. She never complained and only had kind words for others.  Ellie was awarded the silver and gold Kellion medallions given to survivors of type 1 diabetes for 60 plus years. Ellie was nominated to receive an Order of Australia Medal in 1990 for her services to St Pauls Cathedral.

Ellie accompanied Terry to all the orchid meetings. Terry was the Society Registrar. He was acknowledged for the many plant commentaries where he would pass on his knowledge to those assembled at the monthly meetings. This expertise he freely continued to impart to anyone for decades to come. Over the years Terry amassed what can only be described as an immense collection with Cattleyas, Dendrobiums and Vandas being the mainstay and in later years a sizeable collection of Paphiopedilums. Over the years Terry won many awards for his orchids and often taking home all the prizes at the end of year.

In 1988 a move amongst the Central Queensland orchid community was made to establish a Central Qld Orchid Council of which Terry was the inaugural member. This was as a response to what was then perceived as the lack of grower recognition outside SE Queensland to facilitate awards. It was before the formation of the Australian Orchid Council which overtime has addressed these issues. As a result, the state body at the time, The Qld Orchid Society started classes for growers who had an interest in becoming judges and Terry was present at the initial meeting in Rockhampton and he went on to become a member of the first group of judges to qualify in the Central Queensland area.

Terry’s reputation as an orchid grower was well known throughout Qld. Perhaps his greatest achievement along with the many awards he received for his plants and his Life Membership, given to both he and Ellie in 1980, was his unwavering commitment to Rockhampton Orchid Society. This was expressed by his staging of beautiful, extensive large displays at the ROS shows continuously for over 50 years.  Another great achievement was the invitation to participate as an international judge at the Canada World Orchid Conference in 1999.

Ellie served in both executive and support positions within the Society, editor and publicity officer and in many ways the face of the Society. Ellie instigated a social piece in the monthly newsletters called ‘Ellies Corner’, this section to cover the social aspect of the Society, updating everyone on happy and not so happy news of club members.

Before Terry’s passing, he was Rockhampton Orchid Society’s longest serving member having joined in 1963. During this time, he held the positions of Secretary/Treasurer 1968-1971, Vice President 2003-2013, Co newsletter Editor with Ellie, a Committee Member continuously from 1966 – 2021 and Society Registrar and Show Marshall for many years.

For his beloved Ellie, to whom he was married and devoted to for 52 years, health was an issue all their lives together and the last 10 years of her life saw Terry become her full-time carer. They had no children and were constant companions. Ellie passed away in 2018 and Terry was lost in grief.  Terry developed a lung condition soon after Ellie’s death and a bout of legionnaires disease 3 years later exacerbated this condition. In early May Terry was admitted to hospital and treated for double pneumonia brought on by a subsequent infection with COVID. Unfortunately, this was all too much for his system and he passed away very quickly on the morning of 16th May, 2023.

Rest in peace our dear brother and sister-in-law. Together forever.

Tribute by Dean Family – Beverley Hawkins, Robyn Sapir, John Dean, Val Hanrahan, Judy Raciti and their partners.