Michael House: the eulogy

[Peter Donaghy <PeterDo@als.com.au>]

Aus loco discussion mailing list

Born in Sydney in 1966, the first child of his parents, Michael House
found a love for nature and photography through his parents at a very
early age, with regular bushland walks.  By age 4, he was often using
his father's camera.  When Michael was six and a half, his family moved
to Helensburgh, opposite the railway station and adjoining a national
park.  This was utopia for Michael: he could indulge all of his
passions.  

He used to go across to the station to meet his father's train each
afternoon; as time went by, Michael went across earlier and earlier, to
watch the trains roll by.  The station master took Michael under his
wing, letting him help out with a few tasks, even occasionally setting
the points and signals once he was big and strong enough to move the
levers.  

Michael joined the NSW School Railway Clubs Association, and eventually
became president.  He also joined and helped out at the Thirlmere
Railway Museum.  Here, several members often took Michael on their
train-chasing motorcades, and taught him to drive.  At the funeral,
Michael's father, Alan, told how Michael received his first speeding
ticket whilst train chasing when still on his "L's"; the police officer
wasn't too sympathetic to Michael's urgency to "get that train"!!
Michael's photography had by now won him an award or two, and several
had appeared in various publications.

In 1989, Michael graduated with Honours from University, and took his
first job with mining company RGC at Pine Creek: not too many trains in
the NT!  With RGC, Michael also worked briefly in WA and Canberra.

Late in 1990, he married Judith, and moved to the underground Mt Lyell
mine in Tasmania.  In mid 1993, he took up a position at the new
NorthParkes mine, specifically for their Endeavour 26 underground
operation.  Michael's commitment and professionalism saw him quickly
rise through the ranks to a senior position in the Technical Services
division.  He became a highly-regarded world expert in underground
mining techniques, with several overseas trips to visit other
operations.  Upon his death, NorthParkes received many messages of
sympathy from around the globe.  On each trip away, Michael's thoughts
were always with his growing young family, and he was always eager to
return home to them.  

Michael's workmates described a man who never had a bad word to say
about anyone; always offering encouragement and assistance.  His
fascination for trains was not understood by his workmates, but they
looked forward to his always-entertaining tales and anecdotes of his
exploits.  NorthParkes staff regularly car-pool to and from the mine;
trips home with Michael usually resulted in a cross-town deviation to
check out the rail yards first, before the passengers were dropped home!

Michael's last major trip was to South Australia in October to observe
and photograph the "bulldog" action; as his father had done with him,
Michael was already encouraging his two young sons (aged 5 and 3) in his
hobby: they accompanied him on this trip.  Quite a few other railfans
met Michael for the first time on this trip, and all were taken by such
an enthusiastic and genuinely nice person.

In addition to the 1:1 scale trains, Michael was a keen modeller, and
had built a layout.  His frame of reference was the early 70's, the
years of his first love of trains, though he also had a couple of
Victorian C's - in his words, he loved their "brutish lines".  On the
weekend before his death, Michael and his sons travelled to the Werris
Creek area, where he was to meet up with some of the "Branchline
Ramblers" of AMRM fame.

Tragically, at around 3pm on Wednesday, November 24th, a cave-in and
resultant underground air blast at the NorthParkes mine ended the
33-year life of Michael.  He leaves a wife, Judith, two sons aged 5
(news reports said 6 - may just have had a birthday) and 3, and a
6-month old daughter.

Michael was from a very religious family, and this no doubt contributed
greatly to his gentle and loving nature.  He was regularly involved in
activities at his local Anglican church.  At his funeral, his wife said
his ambition in life was to help as many others as possible to find the
inner peace which he himself felt through his faith.  Only days before
his death, Judith said they had discussed death, and Michael said he was
not afraid to go whenever his time came, because he looked forward to
the fulfilment of his "being".  His wife and family have been quite
strong through the entire ordeal, due to their faith.

Quite a few members of this group have posted their experiences of
Michael, both to the group and to myself (thanks, all).  A few snippets
are:

Hunslet: "I had first met Michael as a member of the School Railway
Clubs Association when he used to 'annoy' his local station master at
Helensburgh"; "we have lost a very informative contributor."

Lindsay Lucas: "I knew Michael in the mid-80's (as president of the
SRCA).  Even then he was a keen and competent photographer, and I
remember being very impressed with his slides."; "Altogether a great
loss."

Bob Grant: "I too met Michael only recently when he was travelling with
his children to Adelaide.  We had a good chat on Sleeps Hill above the
tunnel and I thought 'what a nice guy'.  Several other Adelaide railfans
have said they met him also, with similar thoughts."; "I was looking
forward to meeting him again and was shocked when the story of the mine
disaster broke."

Paul Hogan: "While I never met Michael, we became regular e-mail
correspondents, thanks to Railway Digest and Ausloco."  Paul had
provided Michael with much advice and information for his SA trip;
typically, Michael had replied with sightings and many thanks to Paul on
his return.  Sadly, this reply concluded "I'm hooked on going again, but
next time will try to take a second driver (hopefully not having to wait
until my 5 year old gets his licence though!!)"

Dave Shield: "I recently spent a few days with Michael and his boys at
Port Augusta - I was in complete awe of a bloke who would drive such
great distances with two little fellas to get the shots."; "He was just
so enthusiastic and a great bloke."

Mark Carter: "Even before I met Michael, just the tone of his e-mail
messages gave you the feeling that here was someone who everyone got on
with."; "He had a passion for life, his family and his hobby that seemed
well in excess of his 33 years."

Michael's move from Tasmania to Parkes was not long after my own from
Townsville to Orange; I would have met with him once or twice per year
since then, but only to talk business.  One occasion several years back,
a fellow manager and I dined at a Parkes motel with Michael and several
of his fellow geologists - I think his wife and (then) second baby son
were present also.  On this evening, I first saw a very witty,
enthusiastic and knowledgeable side to Michael.  Unfortunately, this was
to be the only truly social contact I had in person with Michael, but it
was thoroughly enjoyable.
About a year ago, we discovered our common interest in trains through
another North exploration geologist and former Parkes-based railfan and
modeller, Roger Jones (this explained to me who was responsible for the
AMRM calendar I observed on the wall in the NorthParkes office in
1993!).  Since then, we found any tiny reason to phone one another, in
the month before Michael's death, following his SA trip and my own
Melbourne holiday, these calls became two or three times per week.
Though the initial topic (1-2 minutes) was always work-related, the next
10-20 minutes became the true reason: trains.  
Around noon on the day of his death, Michael left a message for me to
call: we discussed frequencies for the Orange area - Michael wanted to
program his newly-acquired (on his SA trip) scanner.  Michael also
discussed his Werris Creek trip, but was a bit disappointed as he
believed a DL may have passed through Parkes in his absence.  However, I
said "it'll happen again", and Michael agreed.  Tragically, he'll not be
there to see it if and when it does, as three hours later, his life  was
over.

As Mark Carter wrote so wonderfully: "That the hobby has lost someone
with so much youthful optimism and enthusiasm is indeed tragic.  That a
young family has been left without a father is a much, much greater
tragedy."

Michael would have had no regrets in his life: he was a person unafraid
to try anything and everything.  He led a full and fruitful life and I
am sure that he would not want us to mourn him, but rather rejoice in
the experiences we had of him.

Michael House: 16th September 1966 to 24th November 1999.  Rest in
peace, friend.


Peter Donaghy
Manager, Orange laboratory
ph. (02) 6363 1722
fax (02) 6363 1189


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