Geoff Bolton
Post date: Nov 13, 2015 9:9:8 PM
We have been passed the very sad news that former OCL/P&OCL veteran Geoff Bolton passed away in hospital in Shoalhaven (New South Wales, Australia) on 5 October 2015 following a fall at his home.
In recent years Geoff has been very active keeping people in touch, organising events and circulating news about reunions etc. He set up the OCAL People site (http://www.geoffbolton.net/OCAL_PEOPLE/) and has submitted several news items that have been published here on PONLHeritage.com. One of those items was a report of a reunion that he attended in Tokyo last year which included this summary of his career in shipping:
"November 2014 saw a long-wished reunion in Tokyo: Geoff Bolton,
OCL/P&OCL veteran of thirty years from the 1967 startup of the OCAL head
office in Sydney, had moved to Japan soon after the first ‘Encounter Bay’
voyage arrival from Europe - for a 3-year secondment to the Swire Shipping
Tokyo office during 1970-73. Geoff was systems project manager alongside
local Swire Systems department manager Teru Noma for the initial AJCL
(Australia-Japan Container Line) container trade to Australia from 1970,
followed two years later by the OCL Europe-Japan trade.
An additional New Zealand service by CSCS (Crusader Swire Container
Service) was also supported by this department in later years.
After his later return to OCAL Sydney in 1973 Geoff became commercial
manager for the AJCL trade for six years, then later becoming Australian
Container Manager for a similar term."
In the picture on the right which accompanied the reunion report Geoff is pictured third from the left in the back row.
Geoff's funeral took place shortly in Shoalhaven shortly after his passing and at the time his family suggested that in place of flowers his friends might wish to make a donation to one of a number of organisations that he supported. We repeat their details here should any of his former friends and colleagues from around the world wish to make a donation too:
Sussex Inlet Volunteer Bush Fire Service http://www.sussexinlet.rfsa.org.au/
Salvation Army (NSW) Property Trust http://salvos.org.au/
Multiple Sclerosis Society of NSW http://www.ms.org.au/
Shoalhaven Youth Orchestra http://www.syo.shoalhaven.net.au/
Geoff will be missed.