Kenneth "Ken" Robert Reberger

Ken was born on 5th May 1934 during the Great Depression. Unemployment was around 30% and times were tough. He lived in a modest old home named Billy Goat Gully on an isolated property a mile or two from Lake Albert, on Gregadoo Road several miles from the country town of Wagga Wagga.

 

His father, Michael, was 50 years old and had once farmed a small holding of land, but walked away penniless after years of hardship. He worked as a dam digger and road labourer, hard physical work that often involved camping rough at job sites during the week. His mother Jessie was 40 years old. She worked tirelessly to keep the household running. Monday was washing day — an entire day of hard labour.

 

Ken, called Kenny by his family and Bobby by his father, was the last of seven children: Vera, Lesley, Alan, Margaret, Lindsay, Audrey, and then Ken. His oldest sister Vera had married a farmer nearby, and his nephew Keith was a year or two younger. As young boys they often got up to mischief, and Ken was frequently blamed.

Ken attended Lake Albert Primary School, a small one-teacher school ruled firmly with a cane. Students were made to learn by rote and recite poetry under threat of punishment. Later in life, Ken would try to instil poetry recitation in his own children and grandchildren, and despair at their lack of enthusiasm.

 

When Ken was six, World War II broke out, and his two older brothers joined the army and were sent overseas. The week before Christmas, just days before departing, his brother Les and sister Margaret bought him his first real bicycle, a treasured gift he never forgot.

 

Margaret had been only 15 when Ken was born and always showed him special love and kindness. After she married, and while her husband was deployed, she lived with her father-in-law, who ran the local post office and telephone exchange. Ken was a frequent visitor, often staying there. Margaret took him to Sunday School, where she taught for many years. Much of Ken’s lifelong kindness and selflessness likely came from her example.

 

During the week, while his father worked away from home, Ken was required to climb the nearby hills at dusk to set rabbit traps. He lived in fear of being kept after school for detention, in case darkness fell before he could set them. He rose early at dawn to retrieve the trapped rabbits, skin them, and lay the pelts out to dry for sale. Once a month, he travelled by horse and sulky with his parents into town to sell them. He was given a small share of the money, which he often used to buy a brick of ice cream wrapped in paper, sitting in the gutter on the main street of Wagga to eat it.

 

When Ken was 12 and the war had ended, the family moved into town, to Turner Street in Wagga Wagga. He began attending Wagga Wagga High School. His mother forbade him from riding his bicycle at first, fearful of the dangers of traffic in the much larger town.

 

Life at high school remained difficult. Ken had to pretend he did not want to participate in Friday sports, as his parents could not afford the required clothing or equipment. He felt the quiet burden and shame of poverty deeply.

 

His mother insisted he attend the local Methodist church, where he joined the male youth group known as The Order of the Knights.

 

His older brothers Alan and Les nicknamed him “Punchie” because he would become frustrated by their teasing and try to hit them. The nickname stayed with him for life. Both brothers trained as builders in the post-war housing boom, and Ken worked for them as a labourer on Saturdays, using the money to attend movies and later support his interest in tennis and cycling. Ken had little aptitude for mixing cement, hammering timber, or laying bricks straight, and his brothers often teased him for it.

 

He was also paid a few shillings to light the fire and fill his brother Lindsay’s bath before Saturday nights out. As a teenager, his Saturdays were spent working in the mornings, followed by bike riding, tennis, and occasionally a movie at the only cinema in town. Life was beginning to offer small freedoms and pleasures.

 

Ken left school at 16 and found work at a flour mill assisting with bookkeeping. He balanced ledgers by hand, without calculators, often using the backs of envelopes for calculations. It was there that he realised he wanted to study accounting, and he began attending night school while working full time.

 

In order to meet girls, he began attending Wednesday night dance classes. He learned the jive and other dances, and by 18 was attending Saturday night dances at Kyeamba Smith Hall. There he met Betty. He was initially unimpressed when she stepped on his toes while dancing, but her intelligence and warmth soon won him over. He asked her out, and they quickly formed a strong bond.

 

That same year, he was conscripted for national service. He completed six months of demanding training at Puckapunyal in country Victoria, followed by three years in the Army Reserve. Ken later told many stories of this period — of pranks, hardship, and his own resourcefulness. He had his bicycle transported by train and convinced his sergeant he needed to train as an elite cyclist, allowing him to avoid other duties. He spent hours riding into town, resting in fields, and socialising with local girls. He later admitted he was not ideal soldier material.

 

On 22 January 1954, Ken and Betty married. Ken was not yet 20, and Betty was only 17. Both were eager to build a new life together. They boarded with another family and lived frugally, sometimes making simple scones from flour Ken obtained from the mill. They eventually purchased a block of land on Hodson Avenue, near his brothers Alan and Les.

 

Ken worked weekends assisting his brothers as they built a modest home consisting initially of a lounge room, kitchen, laundry, toilet, and one bedroom. Over time, as finances allowed, additional bedrooms and a bathroom were added.

 

Rosette was born in 1957, followed by Hedley in 1959. Ken loved his children deeply, even while balancing the demands of full-time work and night school.

 

He began working for an insurance company while still completing his studies and found the work intellectually stimulating. He enjoyed the camaraderie of his colleagues, and many of the humorous stories from this period were later included in his memoir, The Accountant Who Laughed, written at age 80.

 

In 1962, after briefly working as a bookkeeper in Cootamundra, he pursued a career in insurance sales. He learned to drive to support his work. Around this time, television arrived in Wagga, and the family purchased a black-and-white set on hire purchase. Evenings were spent waiting eagerly for broadcasts to begin.

 

In 1966, after years of perseverance, Ken qualified as an accountant. He was the first in his family to complete a post school professional qualification. Ken moved his family to Collaroy Plateau in Sydney, purchasing a home for $16,000 — a decision his Wagga relatives considered bold and risky.

 

Ken worked for several years at AMP in the city, enduring a long daily commute and arriving early to secure free parking beneath the Harbour Bridge. In 1973, he became an auditor with National and General Insurance, commuting even further to Edgecliff.

 

He regularly drove the family back to Wagga Wagga to visit relatives, journeys that took 10 to 12 hours. The car was packed tightly with blankets, pillows, and luggage, and these trips became part of family life.

 

Ken remained active in many pursuits. He participated in church activities, volunteered with youth groups, and took his family camping. He developed interests in photography and lapidary, learning to cut and polish gemstones. Cycling remained a lifelong passion, and he shared this with his son Hedley.

 

His children grew into adulthood. Rosette became a teacher, married David, and had three sons — Daniel, Jeremy, and Matthew — who brought Ken great pride and joy. Hedley became a panel beater, travelled widely, and later attended university, building a successful academic career. He married and had three children: Hollie, Angus, and Jesse. Ken instilled in his family the importance of courtesy, discipline, and a strong work ethic, but just as importantly, he showed them how to laugh, to be playful, and to find enjoyment in everyday life. He loved to regale his grandchildren with stories of his mischievous past and take them bushwalking and cycling.

Eventually, Ken left corporate employment, studied tax law, and established his own tax practice from home. The work was demanding, but it provided independence and purpose.

 

Betty’s health declined over the years, and Ken spent onerous hours supporting her through surgeries and medical treatments. Cycling and gemstone cutting provided him with balance and solace. He remained disciplined, often rising early or taking a mid afternoon break to get on the cycling rollers. 

 

Betty passed away in 2005. A year later, at age 71, Ken moved to Adelaide to begin a new chapter.

 

Ken’s life was defined by perseverance, discipline, and quiet determination. From humble beginnings during the Great Depression, he built a professional career through education, hard work, and resilience. He faced hardship without complaint and found joy in simple pursuits — cycling, lapidary, writing, learning, family, and humour.

He will be remembered for his independence, his strength of character, and his enduring commitment to providing a better life for his family. His journey reflected the story of a generation shaped by hardship, responsibility, and resilience.

 

His legacy lives on in his children, grandchildren, and all who knew him.