Bob Crowder Retires

A tribute to Bob Crowder's tremendous popularity was the number of Bureau staff who assembled in the Head Office Conference Room to farewell him on 15 April, his last day with the Bureau after 37 years service.

The Director, Dr John Zillman, said the huge attendance was a reflection of the 'warm feelings' Bureau staff felt towards Bob. He said many people held the view that no-one had made a greater contribution than Bob to meteorology in Australia—particularly because of the way he handled the presentation of weather to the public during his years on television.

Dr Ziliman said his first memories of Bob dated back to those early TV days. Since that time he had worked with Bob in a variety of situations and under many difficult circumstances and Bob had always displayed 'complete professionalism' in every job taken on.

He described Bob as a 'soul of inspiration' and said one of his major contributions was his confidence, even in the face of problems, that 'everything will eventually work out'. The Director commended Bob for his innate ability to discover the best possible solution and said everything he had ever tackled had been completed 'as well as it could possibly be done'.

ADS Peter Noar, who worked with Bob for about nine years, said he had learned a great deal from him, including how to see 'traps' and analyse problems. They had seen many significant changes throughout their careers and it was a great tribute to Bob that 'sanity and friendship' had prevailed, even through extremely difficult times.

STOT, Peter Shaw described Bob as a 'remarkable character' with the impressive personal attributes of 'personality, intelligence and integrity'.

He said he had worked with Bob for a short while in the Victorian Analysis Centre and the Training Centre and one of the things which impressed him was the fact that you always knew where you were with Bob'. In his view Bob had carried out a 'sterling job' for the Bureau, and would be sadly missed.

Peter acknowledged the friendship he shared with Bob over the years and wished him well for his retirement.

Always renowned for his humour, Bob responded with a quip that it appeared the speeches would continue 'until after dark'. He said he had been to many farewells over the years, and he was pleased to see some of his retired colleagues present, including Frank Callus, Kevin Walshe, Steve Lloyd and Keith and Dagmar Henderson.

He commented that he felt 'almost guilty' about leaving the Bureau but he hoped it would not 'take too long to get over this feeling'. No doubt two or three games of golf a week and days lazing under the Queensland sun will help.

Bureau of Meteorology