The person behind the Badge - Serge Beani

The man behind the Badge

Serge Beani

Serge Beani entertained us all with the story of his life, although I must admit to being a little confused as to his actual birthplace in 1947. Was it Tuscany or Northern Italy? I think that as he mentioned being born a refugee it may have been that he was born in Tuscany but the family origin was Northern Italy, which had come under communist rule. In any case he is a very proud and passionate Italian - no doubts about that.....

His family were allotted Australia as their new country and they sailed on the " General Muir ", a former American troop carrier, in 1950. The family consisted of his Dad, Mum, Serge and his 2 brothers. He remembers the voyage well although he was so young. On arrival in Melbourne they were bussed to Bonegilla. Serge's Dad and older brother got jobs picking fruit which led to the family eventually moving into a run down old farmhouse that Serge's Dad had slowly fixed up for them in his spare time. Serges deep respect and appreciation for his parents' hard work was clearly and beautifully expressed and he obviously applied those learnt values to his own life....

Their next destination was Williamstown when Dad got a job with the railways at Yarraville. He bought a block of land and built them a house. Serge had a wonderful childhood there - adapting well to the Aussie diet and lifestyle. He attended St Mary's. He might get the club record for meeting his future spouse at 4 and they began going together at 11 (and they are still together - well done...!!!). He married at 22 and they had 4 children - sadly losing 1 to cystic fibrosis.

Serge began farming and racehorse training at Bacchus Marsh. His horses won 6 races at Colac. Although he obviously loved that life it was tough financially on his family so he went to work for Toyota.

I couldn't write fast enough to keep up with his rapid rise through the ranks.

He loved working for Toyota and appreciated their Japanese work ethics and there were many highlights - including travelling the world and attending the Greek Olympics with Gail.

And he was obviously very valued by the company. He tried to leave but was talked into staying by being given the position of assistant to the Vice President. They bought the property here long before Serge officially left the company but he revealed that he is actually still working for them every now and then.....

We all appreciated hearing of Serges history and I suspect most of us were sorry when the bell was rung to shut him up - not that it did - as there would be many interesting side stories in his life I'm sure....