Howard ‘Mick’ Vaughan– Kath Gannaway
MICK Vaughan could walk just about anywhere in Healesville, certainly along the main street, and reflect on a job well done.
When the Mail spoke with Howard ‘Mick’ Vaughan back in March 2006, just a week after he had turned 100, there was a sense of modest pride that he had been such a part of the fabric of the town in so many ways, and for so long.
In his own words… “I’ve built shops in the main street and houses all over the place”.
Mick came to Healesville in 1928 to build a house in Westmount Road; his building skills passed on from his father, a master builder.
He stayed on for more 77 years and, although he became very much part and parcel of the town in his own right, the initial reason was a young lass named Eunice ‘Girly’ Cherry.
Mick met Girly while he was building that first house. Romance blossomed and they were married in July 1935.
The couple raised their three children, Pamela (dec), Howard and Val in Healesville and Mick embraced an important part of the local scene, playing for and coaching the Healesville Bloods.
He was quite a catch for the club, having played amateur football in Melbourne and with a passion for the game both as a participant and as a spectator.
A mounted football presented to him when he won the 1933 goal kicking competition with 106 goals had pride of place in the billiard room of his Healesville home.
Mick’s early days in Healesville were interrupted by the war. He spent four and a half years overseas as a sergeant in the 9th Division Engineers.
He was of a generation that had been brought up to love and defend their country.
One of his early memories is as a 12 year old helping his father load ships at Port Melbourne during World War I.
“I joined up late, when the Japs started to bomb us,” he recalled.
“I thought, I have to be in it. Wherever we were needed to build camps, latrines, hospitals, provide water for the camps … whatever was wanted.”
Paying tribute to Mick’s service to the country, Healesville RSL manager Peter McPhee said he had played a role in constructing what was needed to get the troops in and out of battle, and keep them secure when resting. “Everything from latrines to airfields,” he said.
Mateship and an interest in people were important aspects of the Australian way of life, Mick said.
He served in Netherland East Indies (now Indonesia) and British North Borneo. He agreed war was tough but said he wouldn’t change a thing. “I would do it all again.”
After returning from the war Mick established a successful joinery next to the Grand Hotel in Green Street. With a reputation as a craftsman he was never short of work up until his retirement in the mid-60s at the relatively early age of 55, when his son, Howard, took over.
Howard said his father and mother enjoyed their retirement pursuing another passion – travel.
He was proud to be an Australian overseas and with his great love of Healesville and its people, there is no doubt also that he would have been a great ambassador for his home town.
In later years, he might have bemoaned the fact that … “you can’t even buy a shirt, or get a pair of boots in the town”, but even with the many changes he observed over the years, he always called Healesville home.
Mick had enjoyed excellent health up until a few months before he died just two days before his 102nd birthday.
“I’m just an ordinary, hard working bloke,” he said when asked two years ago for the secret of his longevity. “I’ve been fortunate; I don’t have any problems and I’ve had good family and friends.”
Mick Vaughan died peacefully on 18 February. More than 80 people gathered at St John’s Anglican Church in Healesville on 21 February to celebrate his fortunate life and their good fortune at having shared in their own way.
He is survived by his children, Howard and Val, 13 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
