Two  men whose connections with and commitment to Charles Sturt University (CSU) date back almost 60 years will be remembered in ceremonies at CSU in Wagga Wagga this week.

 

The ashes of the late Mr Don Joyes – a housemaster with the Wagga Agricultural College (WAC) - and the ashes of his late wife Fay will be scattered on a rose garden at the University on Friday 24 October.

 

A short time later, CSU will rename a student residence after Mr John Bowen, one of the first students at the Wagga Agricultural College.

 

 

Appointed as a housemaster and lecturer with the Wagga Agricultural College in 1951, Mr Joyes had a long association with agricultural education in the Riverina. He was a 1951 foundation member of the Old Boys’ Union, the body representing former WAC students. Mr Joyes also had a lengthy commitment to improving student welfare until his death at the age of 83 years in October 2001.

 

His wife of more than 50 years and partner in his work with young people passed away in March 2008 aged 93 years.

 

“Don and Fay were their happiest when associated with CSU. They had no children and university life and all it encompasses was their ‘niche in life’,” said Mr Denis Adams, Executor of the Joyes’ Estate.

 

“It is only fitting that their final resting place be back at CSU, near Joyes Hall”.

 

Born in New Zealand in 1918, Don Joyes worked at the Wagga Agricultural College as a housemaster and a lecturer in farm machinery and basic agricultural principles. His main responsibility was student welfare. His interest in assisting younger people and their career pursuits ran through his life even after his retirement in 1978.

 

His close association with the College continued with the Riverina College of Advanced Education (RCAE), the Riverina Murray Institute of Higher Education and then CSU.

 

In 1976, the then RCAE Principal, Professor Cliff Blake recognised Mr Joyes’ services to the institution by naming the main hall on the Wagga Wagga Campus after him. The ashes will be scattered on a rose garden near Joyes Hall.

 

Mr John Bowen was one of the first 33 students to enrol in the Wagga Agricultural College (WAC) in 1949, the year the institution opened. Mr Bowen was instrumental in the establishment of the WAC’s alumni group known as the 49ers.  

 

“Whenever the original 49ers think of spirit and mateship, they think of John Bowen, who did so much to keep together the early students and graduates of the Wagga Agricultural College, along with their families,” said friend and CSU Emeritus Professor Ted Wolfe.

 

“John was proud that the tradition of mateship that he fostered has continued on from WAC to the men and women who study agricultural courses at CSU today."

 

“A successful businessman based in Gosford on NSW central coast, John was a gentleman, honourable and dignified.”

 

One of the Halls of Residence on the Wagga Wagga Campus, known as East Hall, will be renamed to honour John Bowen and his services to CSU and its predecessor organisations.

 

The two-storey student accommodation building will be known as John Bowen Hall.

 

Mr Bowen died in October 2007. His widow Mrs June Bowen and her son and daughter have been invited to the ceremony. Invitations have also been extended to the surviving members of Mr Bowen’s class of 1949 and other members of the WAC Old Boys’ Union (WACOBU).”