Jack Dewan
DEWAN, John Owen (Jack), Dip Mech Eng MSAE (USA) MSAE (A’sia) MIAME (1909-1980)
Jack was born on July 28, 1909, in Boulder, the son of butcher John Dewan and his wife Mary Elizabeth Dewan (nee Cullen). The family moved to Perth where his father opened a butcher’s shop in Beaufort Street.
Jack was educated at Sacred Heart Convent Primary School, Highgate and Christian Brothers College, Perth. In 1920 he was awarded a State Government Bursary.
In 1929, Jack married Sylvia Emily Baker at Fremantle. He was working as a butcher. Jack’s stepson, Lawrence James Dewan was killed in a fall at Midland Workshops in 1951.
Jack was an early radio enthusiast with experimental station identifier VK6JK. In 1931 he was able to have a clear, half hour long, conversation with J M Retallick, a well-known wireless experimenter based in Bellingen, NSW, 2,500 miles away. In 1933 he set up a radio system to trial communication with a diver on the bed of the Swan River.
Jack completed a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering at Perth Technical College as well as being certified in Aero Engineering by 1936. He then worked as an Aircraft Engineer with Australian National Airways, in Perth, becoming the Perth Foreman.
In 1940, he commenced as Instructor in Internal Combustion Engines at Perth Technical College. By 1950 he was a Chief Instructor Aircraft and Automotive Industries.
In 1961 he became the inaugural Principal of the Carlisle Automotive Technical College, a position he held until 1975. Previously automotive classes had been held in huts on the Perth Esplanade with workshops on the lower end of the St Georges Terrace site. The founding of the new college was a mammoth undertaking, relocating all the old equipment from the Perth site, sourcing new equipment and recruiting new staff.
On retirement from Carlisle, he worked as an automotive engineering consultant.
Jack married, secondly, Agnes Frances Kruss (or Kriiss), on October 13, 1947, at East Fremantle. They had two children John and Kathryn.
Jack was active in automotive and other organisations being a Member of the Motor Dealers Vehicle Licensing Board, President the Royal Automobile Club WA from 1969 to 1971, a Life Member of the Institute of Automotive Mechanical Engineers (Australia), a Member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (USA), a Member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (Australasia) and a Member the Plastics Institute of Australia.
Jack died on June 1, 1980, aged 70 years. He was survived by his first wife Sylvia, his second wife Agnes and his two children.
References:
Richard Ewing and John Pitman (Editors), Carlisle Tech: celebrating 50 years of automotive training 1961-2010, 2010.
Margaret A Sacks (Editor), The WAY 79 Who is Who, Crawley Publishers, Nedlands, 1980.
WA Record, 23.12.1916, p. 9.
Macleay Argus, NSW, 24.3.1931, p. 2.
Daily News, 2.9.1933, p. 1.
West Australian, 27.6.1936, p. 10.
Noel Searle (Publishing Director), Notable Australians, The Pictorial Who’s Who, Paul Hamlyn Pty Ltd, Dee Why West, 1978.
