An unassuming man who worked for the council for 60 years, Trevor was farewelled last week by wife Mary, who worked for the council for 40 years herself, children Belinda and David, three grandchildren and hundreds of family, friends and colleagues.
Mayor Bilal El-Hayek said that many considered Trevor a friend, a mentor . . . . and a part of their family.
He told council that: “Trevor Newton, born on the thirteenth of December 1944, during the Second World War, sadly lost his battle with cancer and was laid to rest last week.
“Farewelled by the love of his life Mary, his two children, Belinda and David, his three grandchildren . . . and hundreds of family, friends, former work colleagues and members of the community.
“Trevor was a quiet, unassuming man, who worked for Council for 60 years. . . . and according to our records, he was our longest serving employee. . . an achievement which is rare to find in today’s ever-changing workplaces, as employees move from job to job.
“Trevor joined Bankstown Council when he was just 15 years old, as a junior clerk in the mailroom, on the ninth of May 1960. He was a gangly, quietly spoken teenager, who was employed in the records section to manage outgoing mail and to ensure the record ledgers
were kept up to date.
“Imagine what it was like working back then… no computers, no mobile phones, manual typewriters, payments by cheque and that’s not to mention sorting through bags and bags of mail that would arrive daily.
“During his time at Council, he went through many changes and saw tracts of market gardens turned into suburbs, house numbering and new streets created… and it was his intricate knowledge of the City that would prove to be invaluable years later as Council records were lost during a fire which razed the Council building.
“Trevor loved telling friends and colleagues of his brush with fame when in 1980 he was part of the official welcoming party to greet the Queen as she proclaimed Bankstown a City. And then there was the time he entertained the former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd over lunch… by all reports Mr Rudd was most impressed with Trevor’s knowledge of the City and was overheard to tell some people ‘this bloke is a walking library’.
“I could go on and on but his genuine love of our city, and his job, is unquestionable… working for Council was his life and in fact his family’s life as his wife Mary was also a long serving employee of 40 years – that’s 100 years between them.
“Finally, I would like to share this; during his final weeks, as he was surrounded by family and friends, he fondly spoke of his job and his friends at Council and how he wished he could be still working with them.”
