Awarded Honorary Life Membership 1978.
Obituary
I, like many people throughout the bushwalking, National Parks and Conservation communities, was saddened to hear of the death of Robert Story on 19 February 1999.
Robert and Sybil joined CBC in 1963 and quickly became active in all aspects of the Club. When I joined the Club in 1973, Sybil was a past President and frequently the typist of IT when no others could be found. Through Robert’s good offices, we held our monthly meetings in a room at CSIRO. Robert was a regular leader of weekend trips and many extended ones, including expeditions to South West Tasmania, NZ and other areas. They were both people to approach when something important and abnormal had to be done, and done correctly.
Robert led my first non-base camp overnight walk, a six-day trip to the Budawangs. He permitted me to participate after checking with several people with whom I’d walked. He helped arrange pack and sleeping bag hire and a place in a tent, then provided advice and suggestions for food and other equipment. That walk converted me into a committed walker. The Storys were also the prime source of encouragement for me to first stand for a committee position. Sue met them and a CBC party in about 1970 when on a Coast & Mountain Walkers trip in SW Tasmania. Robert and Sybil took her under their wing and introduced her to the CBC when she moved to Canberra in 1972.
As a CBC member, Robert was a tireless worker, a source of ideas and encourager of others, and a moderator. He was very fair-minded, on occasions going to some lengths to provide a ‘fair go’ to people he disagreed with. He was good company on walks, exhibited strong dry wit, exuded quiet good cheer, showed concern for the rest of the party, and was a gentleman in every sense of the word.
He was an Honorary Life Member, not only of CBC, but also of NPA and several other organisations. In 1989 he was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for services to bushwalking and conservation, which included several years as an executive member of NPA (ACT) and of the Kosciuszko Huts Association. For several years, he was also the ACT member of the Australian National Parks Council. Incidentally and remarkably, Sybil also was independently elected an Honorary Life member of CBC.
I extend my, and the Club’s, deepest sympathies to Sybil, Judy, Muriel and their families.
Alan Vidler. Published in It, March 1999.
Further Reference: Wikipedia – Robert Story (botanist)
