Obituary: Noel Kervin

From an early age, Noel quickly became known as a caring family member to his sister, Claire, and younger brother, Greg, as well as his grandfather, who lived nearby.

As a boy, he enjoyed reading The Phantom comic books, camping with friends on weekends at Mt Hope, and was a member of the local Scouts group.

He was educated locally, attending primary school in Leitchville and high school in Cohuna.

Noel met his soon-to-be wife, Pamela, at the Kerang dance as a young man, and they would marry each other after Pam graduated from teachers’ college in 1963.

The newly-weds had a house delivered by truck to the Kervin family dairy farm on Pipers Lane where Noel worked, helping his father, and soon moved to another dairy farm they bought nearby on Randalls Rd.

Their first child, Mark, arrived in September the year they married, followed by their daughter Jenni in 1967, and their son Cameron in 1969.

One day, while playing as a leg spinner in country league cricket, Noel and his teammates stopped at a milk bar in White Hills, Bendigo, which was across the road from St Luke’s Children’s Home.

There were children by the fence asking to be taken home, and when Noel told Pam upon returning to Leitchville, they decided to help out — a recurring theme in Noel’s life.

Stewart, five at the time, became part of the Kervin family in 1967, joining them at their dairy farm on weekends and holidays.

Noel and his family would go on to extend their generosity to overseas students after staying at an international house while playing cricket in Melbourne.

He became friendly with some people he met — another defining characteristic of Noel’s — who told him they had nowhere to go during weekends and holidays as, being foreign students, they didn’t know anybody from Australia.

This prompted him and Pam to join Volunteers Australia Abroad to host foreign students at their home, then going on to offer weeks of farm work experience to VET students.

After many years at the farm in Leitchville spent with family, friends, and Noel’s cherished dogs, Noel and Pam moved to Echuca in 2000, but not before making an impressive and lasting impact on the local sporting scene.

Sport

Cricket, Australian Rules Football, basketball and, in later years, lawn bowls, were Noel’s major sporting passions.

After finding out locals in Cohuna were missing out on cricket games, Noel and his friends decided to create their own club called the Nondescripts, commonly called the Nondies.

As captain and co-founder of the team, it was here that Noel would earn his affectionate nickname, Nondie.

The group found its feet after some initial losses, quickly becoming the dominant team in its league to the envy of competing clubs who suddenly complained the Nondies had stolen all the good players.

The team, now formally known as the Nondies Cohuna Cricket Club, is still in operation today, competing in Goulburn Murray Cricket.

They recently honoured their co-founder by wearing black armbands at a game in early October.

Noel was also a dedicated member of the Leitchville Football Club where he spent years playing and coaching.

He played for the 1969 premiership team, marking the first time the club had won a grand final since his own father, a life member, played as a forward in 1930.

After retiring from playing, Noel umpired matches before joining the Leitchville Football Club’s thirds coaching team.

He also held a position as a match committee member for the seniors team at the same time, helping out with player selection and organisation behind the scenes.

Noel led the Leitchville thirds into grand final matches in 1991 and 1992, with his side winning in the latter year and collecting its first premiership title.

His work for the team got him noticed by an AFL representative who asked him to become the Auskick co-ordinator in the region.

Noel accepted the offer after leaving his coaching role at the Leitchville thirds and went on to become an Auskick legend, running programs for local schools.

During his time with Auskick, he was also responsible for taking children to Melbourne to play in half-time matches in AFL games where, despite the rules, he made sure all the kids were able to participate.

This included colluding with opposition coaches to make sure no children were benched during play time, and ensuring a child in a wheelchair was able to get onto the field after being told he wasn’t allowed.

Noel was also asked to coach the under-15s Central Murray football team which competed in Melbourne for the country championships.

The side appeared in grand finals and was able to win the competition one year under his leadership.

An interview with Noel in 2001 constituted a large portion of a feature article on the championships in The Age.

In it, he spoke about his love for coaching and the steps he took to ensure the boys felt part of, and worked as a team.

Noel’s association with the AFL and Auskick led to an invitation to become the development officer for the Pioneers, training players from Swan Hill to Echuca as part of recruitment for the Bendigo team.

He coached people who would go on to become notable AFL players, including Echuca locals Andrew Walker and Ollie Wines.

Noel also volunteered in coaching roles at numerous football clubs in the region during his time in football, including for Echuca United and in Mathoura, and had a decorated career, often seeing his various teams through to premierships.

Off the field, Noel was a Richmond Tigers supporter, and was able to watch his team dominate Greater Western Sydney in the 2019 AFL grand final.

Outside of football and cricket, he played basketball from a young age and later enjoyed lawn bowls, which he played with his father.

Community

When Noel wasn’t dairy farming, bolstering local sporting clubs, running Auskick programs, or hosting people at his home in Leitchville, he also volunteered his time for the community.

He was the president of the Leitchville Parent Teachers Committee for many years, overseeing the primary school’s centenary during his time in the role.

Noel was also heavily involved in local Lions clubs, raising funds for community initiatives.

He would transform into Santa towards the year’s end, volunteering to appear at the Leitchville pre-school and spread Christmas cheer.

After moving from Leitchville, Noel became a teacher’s aide at Echuca College, where he became known for his good humour and dedication to the children.

Noel would continue his holiday antics while working as a bus driver in Echuca, staging a mobile Christmas party each year for school kids on his routes and handing out treats.

His home was also a hub for the annual Illawarra Drive Christmas lights fundraiser, where he would host hundreds of friends and acquaintances attending the event.

In memory

Noel and Pam Kervin were married for 61 years, receiving a letter of congratulations from the King and Queen of England, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and the Governor-General on their 60th wedding anniversary.

A great-grandfather, Noel was at the head of an extensive and beloved immediate and extended family.

He frequently found opportunities to play entertaining pranks on his loved ones, and garnered a reputation for his light-heartedness.

Friends and family remember Noel as a compassionate and kind man, able to make everyone he met feel truly special.

Noel Kervin’s funeral was held on Friday, September 27, at the Dungala Events Centre in Moama.