By Jodie Symonds
He was your everyday, hard-working true-blue bloke.
Wandin North’s Ken Johnston lost his seven-year battle with cancer on Friday 6 January, aged 80.
He was born on 23 December 1936 at the Prahran Private Hospital.
His mother’s name was Dorothy and father’s name was George.
When he was growing up, he spent most of his time around his family.
Ken attended Boundary Road State School in North Melbourne, and from primary school he was awarded a scholarship to go to Brunswick Technical School.
He spent four years at the technical school, and while he never really got pocket money, he used to collect beer bottles from North Melbourne football ground and sold them to get two-pence per dozen.
He then bought his first push-bike for 30 pounds from Cecil Walker Cycles on Elizabeth Street, Melbourne.
Ken said in his biography that his dad made him a billy-cart to be able to load the beer bottles in.
At school his nickname was ‘Weedy’ because he started smoking at an early age.
Ken used to ride his bike to school, but after he broke his leg when his jeans got caught in the chain, his parents wouldn’t let him ride his bike, until the local butcher said they would give him a job as a delivery boy to strengthen his leg.
He began delivering orders before he started an apprenticeship, and at the time he wanted to become a plumber but instead became a butcher.
When his family moved to Braybrook, his father was working as a training officer with the air force and Ken was called up to undertake six months of National Service duty.
He was sent for training at the Point Cook base where his father worked, but his father was unable to train him because they were related.
He described his time in the National Service as a “real growing-up experience”.
When he was 18 he bought his first car, and he pushed it further than he drove it.
He then borrowed some money off his elder sister, Hazel, and bought a Morris Minor with a soft top roof.
Over the years he had many jobs, but it was when a farmer had opened up a butcher’s shop in Cann River, Gippsland, where he ran the shop.
In his twenties he met the love of his life, Barbara, at a dance in Melbourne.
Mrs Johnston had just had part of her finger amputated while working at a cigarette factory, when Mr Johnston showed up to her bedside and asked her out.
“We met in September, got engaged in December and got married in March,” Barbara said.
Once married, the original “Ken and Barbie” as Mr Johnston referred to their love, moved to North Sunshine and then Belgrave where they had three kids – Tracey, Steven and Melissa.
Later, they also brought Kelly and Sean, known as Moose, into the world.
From Belgrave they moved to Tecoma, then to Alexandra before settling down in Wandin North in 1975.
They bought the block of land for $10,000, and paid $17,000 for the house to be built.
He loved North Melbourne Football Club, and Mrs Johnston and he regularly attended home games.
Up until he was unable to drive, Ken used to collect beer cards from Silvan, Lilydale, Seville, Wandin and Mount Evelyn football grounds.
He would sell the cans and use the money to feed his beloved birds.
Mrs Johnston said her husband was diagnosed with stomach cancer seven years ago, which doctors believed at the time to be non-malignant.
Five years later, doctors said the cancer had spread to his lungs, and intensive treatment began.
Barb was also battling cancer, and together they attended multiple hospital visits a week, but not without their regular catch ups with friends at Chirnside Park Shopping Centre for a coffee, or two.
“There have been a lot of major world events that have happened in my lifetime,” Ken said in his biography.
“There were things like wars … the moon landing … I remember when the bushfires went through Alexandra,”
Ken and his family owned a lot of pets: first they had Kimmy, a puppy who was given to them by a customer from the butcher’s shop, then Rinny, an English bulldog, then Monty.
They also had Mindy and Honey the cats.
When he was young his family used to have chickens and canaries, as well as a couple of dogs and a cat.
Ken said the happiest event in his life was getting married, followed by the birth of his children, and then the birth of his grandchildren.
Mr Johnston loved collecting; he would regularly collect cans, and had a very extensive collection of bobble head toys, birds and gnomes around the house.
Mr Johnston said when he was little his grandma would give him red cordial, a memory he also shared with his grand and great grandchildren.
His life was celebrated on Thursday 12 January at Lilydale Memorial Park, where family members spoke in memory of Mr Johnston.
There were laughs, tears and joy as every person had a great story to tell about him.
