Service banked

– Kath Gannaway
STATE Bank customers at Healesville had difficulty in reconciling the Monday to Friday Mr Johanson in his three-piece suit with the after hours Col in his paint-spotted overalls.
As his wife Josephine’s observation confirmed, Colin Johanson was an old-school bank manager who refused to be pigeon-holed.
At a celebration of his life in January the many heartfelt tributes and anecdotes shared by his family, Rotary colleagues and others revealed a man who wasn’t afraid to give almost anything a go.
If it required overalls, so much the better!
Alfred Colin Johanson was born at Springvale hospital on 21 April 1936, the second child and only son of Jessie and Alf Johanson.
He had a happy childhood and adolescence with loving parents, a big sister, a dog, a pushbike and good mates.
He joined the State Bank after leaving school, although he always had a yearning to be a farmer. Throughout his life he found ways of satisfying that need.
He met Josephine shortly after doing his National Service and they married on 30 December, 1961. Over the next several years their sons, Bill, Greg, Sam and Jake were born.
Colin worked in suburban branches and head office before moving up country to manage the Manangatang branch of the bank.
In 1975 the family moved to Healesville where Colin’s life-long affair with ‘fixer-upers’ began. He loved a renovation challenge!
Gradually Colin moved closer to home, transferring from Croydon where he was assistant manager to Yarra Glen as manager and then to Healesville where he started as manager of the State Bank and retired as manager of the Commonwealth Bank.
When he retired his gold watch read “38 years service to the Commonwealth Bank”. Josephine said he was bitterly disappointed.
“He never got over the sale of the State Bank to the Commonwealth Bank,” she said. Old school.
That State Bank service model was something he valued and no doubt influenced his decision to become involved in establishing a community bank in Healesville.
Colin was a founding director of Healesville and District Community Enterprise and although he died just a month before the Bendigo Bank branch opened, he knew it was coming.
A journey to trace his ancestral roots took he and Josephine through Scandinavia to Oland, an island off the coast of Sweden where his family could be traced back for centuries, and to Northern Ireland where he saw a copy of the will in which his grandfather was left the Victorian farm.
Retirement was short-lived. He bought an automatic transmission repair franchise with Greg as his expert mechanic and renovated another house before returning to Badger Creek Road to do it all over again.
Colin inherited his mother’s sense of community. He was a Scout Master and Cub Leader for eight years, played club tennis and served on the boys’ school committees from pre-school to high school. He was particularly proud to be part of the committee which saw the new state of the art Badger Creek Primary School built in 1988.
He was an Apex foundation member at Springvale and later a foundation member of Healesville Rotary Club, serving a term as president. He earned and enjoyed a special kinship with his Rotary colleagues who delighted in ‘roasting’ their friend with stories which ensured his farewell would not be without the laughter he wanted.
His afternoon ‘nanna’ naps at the bank, his booming voice and his unique style of presidency were among some of the topics covered with humour, affection and sadness.
Driving the bus for the bike riders to the Rotary Conference over the past few years became the highlight of the year for Colin, and in 2009 he and Josephine teamed up as support crew for the Townsville to Darwin section of The Great Australian Bike Ride.
“We had the time of our lives,” Josephine said, setting the record straight on remarks on their camping experience. “Col’s dad built a caravan copied from the original design and we have always spent holidays touring Australia in our caravans,” she said.
Bill spoke on behalf of the boys and, again, there was laughter and tears as he spoke of a hands-on dad who was always there for them.
Colin was first diagnosed with cancer in 1972. The last three years were a battle and one of the enduring memories for family, friends and colleagues will be the courage and dignity he showed, particularly in the last year of his life.
Colin was given a standing-room only farewell which reflected his connection with community and his life-long belief that family and friends were the most important things in life.
He is survived by his wife, four sons and grandchildren Brody, Charlotte, Rebecca and Osgar.