Skip to main content

We are saddened to advise of the passing of John Reeves OAM – a valued member of Cooks Hill SLSC and a Hunter Branch and Surf Life Saving NSW Life Member. 

John joined the Surf Life Saving movement in 1948 as a fresh-faced 14-year-old, gaining his Bronze Medallion two years later, and transferred from his original club in Merewether to Cooks Hill just up the beach in the mid-50’s. 

By that stage, he was already a branch gold medallist and a state and national silver medallist in the then-Junior Surf Teams Championship event, before turning his hand to the Belt race where he became a branch Junior and Senior champion. 

Colourfully described in the 70’s by Surf Line journalist, Ian Toll as a “big, barrel-chested man” who “commands respect” and was an “outspoken champion of the Juniors in Newcastle”, John’s contributions as a Patrol Captain, Club and State Team Coach, Branch Superintendent and a selector at several levels were highly valuable. 

He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 1998, becoming the second member from Cooks Hill to be recognised with the medal. 

Cooks Hill SLSC President, Michael Clancy said he will remember John as a “selfless” man who shaped the way youth programs are delivered in modern Surf Life Saving. 

“I think he epitomises what SLS is about, that selfless giving of time and effort to improve society on a raft of fronts,” he said. 

“If it wasn’t for people like him, I think you can really question where the youth movement and Nippers would be today. 

“What he did here in the Hunter but across the country and in the world, our youth might not quite appreciate the impact he has had on how they’re currently engaged in Surf Life Saving. 

“I look around the surf club and see photos of past members – Clive Churchill, the old Australian rugby league captain, he is a former member. And I think John really stands alongside him for impact, if not maybe with the same level of recognition. 

“For me, leading people willing to sacrifice – not just with John but a number of our Life Members – each one of them, when you talk to the families, the sacrifices everyone made in terms of time with their loved ones is quite phenomenal and they’re willing participants in that. 

“John is the pinnacle of that kind of volunteerism, but it’s representative of what hundreds of thousands of volunteers do every day and every weekend on our beaches.” 

Tuesday 3 December 2024