Well-known community member who lived a long, rich and interesting life
Contributed By Helen Page and Pam Innes
John Innes lived a rich and interesting long life, becoming a well-known member of the Glasshouse Country community.
His wife Pam shared some of John’s story with GC&M News which she adapted from the family eulogy with assistance from long term family friend Helen Page.
John was born on June 18, 1929 at Caboolture Hospital, which has since been relocated to Caboolture Historical Village.
After leaving school John was apprenticed as an electrician at Synchronome Electrical Company. One of his jobs was maintaining the clock mechanism of the Brisbane Town Hall.
John and Pam met through church activities in the Nundah Anglican Parish. The couple were married on May 3, 1952 at St. Francis Church at Nundah.
With help from members of both of the couple’s families, Pam and John built a home at Zillmere next door to John’s parents who had gifted some land as a wedding present.
The young couple spent many evenings working on finishing one section of the house at a time.
John’s father had been an amateur beekeeper, and when he died in 1962 John took over his hives.
He joined the Brisbane Amateur Beekeepers Association and just two years later won his first prize as a novice at the Royal Brisbane Agricultural Show.
As his interest in bees grew he enrolled in a short course on beekeeping at Gatton Agricultural College, and as a family the Innes’s went on numerous beekeeping field trips.
When John was eventually semi-retired as an electrician, and the couple’s four children had left home, his interest in bees was expanding so John and Pam decided to move from suburban Brisbane to a rural area. They were fortunate to find a property at Beerwah suitable for a bee keeper.
John eventually had 300 hives and sold the honey to the Honey Corporation. The hives were mainly located in state forests around South-east Queensland. This also entailed much travelling, often at night when bees were being moved on to the next honey flow.
Pam’s father had been an orchid fancier in retirement, and Pam had received many orchids as gifts. John took them over, and in time had hundreds of orchids in his care and many prize ribbons to show for his efforts.
He joined the Orchid Club and in later years went on to become President. He also trained to become an orchid judge. John’s love of orchids and Pam’s of gardening took them around the world as they attended flower shows in a number of countries.
Moving to Glasshouse Country brought another life twist. Pam was asked to write local items for Glasshouse Country News, then to be a paid helper.
When the editor and co-publisher Sue Parnell wanted out she finally persuaded Pam to take over. It was a big decision for both Pam and John, as Pam became editor and John became circulation manager of a fortnightly 2000 copy paper.
Eventually the paper grew both in size and number to over 6000 copies weekly.
After 17 years Lea Parkes bought the paper, and once again John and Pam settled into semi-retirement.
They started looking for acreage more suitable for the bees, and in 1986 were lucky to find it halfway to Peachester, “on the cusp” as they said.
Another new venture was to plant macadamia trees. With the help of a local grower, 500 trees were planted and another 100 were added later.
John’s father came from an academic family but he chose to be a farmer instead. In the end John’s heart was also in farming.
John became a behind-the-scenes supporter after Pam was asked to join the Chaplaincy Committee at the new Beerwah High School. He had also been appointed District Warden for Caloundra/Glasshouse Country Anglican Parish.
He was a member of the Peachester Garden Club, also going on to become President, and an active member of the Peachester History Committee.
John passed away peacefully on 19th February at Erowal. Pam said they were both extremely grateful for almost 72 years of happy married life.
