Les Rendell
Born: Brisbane, August 26, 1933
Died: Brisbane, August 31, 2004
Les Rendell was a life member of the Nothern Suburbs Hockey Club, where he enjoyed many of his finest achievements over 46 years as a player, coach, manager, administrator and supporter.
He represented Queensland in the Under-21 team, the Colts, as a goalkeeper and was one of five brothers who played first-division hockey in Brisbane.
Leslie Alfred Rendell was the youngest of nine children born to William and Mary Rendell of Gaythorne in Brisbane's inner northside.
With brothers Bill, Clive, Eric, Alan, Noel and Merv, and sisters, Thora and Anete, Les was keen on sport.
While attending Enoggera State Scholl, he played his first game of hockey, aged 11, in 1944. It took just one game for the seeds of a lifetime love of the sport to be sown.
He went on to Industrial High – at the end of George St, Brisbane – where he not only fine-tuned his hockey talents but became skilled in manual labour, scoring an electrical apprenticeship with the major electrical firm LG Burley.
In 1951, Les started dating childhood sweetheart Dorothy Wooderson.
Two years later, Less enlisted as a crewman in the Royal Australian Navy. Soon after leaving the navy, he and Dorothy married, in November 1954. It was the beginning of a marriage which ended just short of 50 years.
Within 12 months, the newlyweds had built a house at Stafford.
In 1955, Dorothy gace birth to the first of their six children – a boy, Kim. Soon after, in 1957, daughter Kathryn arrived, before Russell (1960), Greg (1962), Michelle (1965) and Colleen (1969).
Around this time, Mr Rendell was making a name for himself on the hockey field, and he played in first division for Boys Brigade, Ashgrove and St. Andrews, before joining Northern Suburbs.
With their growing family, the Rendells decided a bigger house was needed, so they moved into a home at Oxford Park previously owned by Dorothy's famly.
As the head of the contracting division of electircal firm Claude Neon, Mr Rendell was involved in projects including the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Mt Olivet Hospital and the Captain Cook bridge.
In 1977, he took on a new role as maintenance manager at the Queensland Medical Laboratory – a position he held until his retirement 18 years later,
While he valued his work, Mr Rendell's enduring passions were his family and hockey. He soon combined them, his children enjoying the sport as much as he did.
In a 30-year career, he guided several junior and senior teams to success.
As a coach, he was known for his inspiring speeches and infectious positive attitude.
Friends recall how his old Kombi van would b seen chugging along filled with children in hockey attire.
In 1979, as club president, Les was largely responsible for Northern Suburbs fielding more boys' teams than any other club in the history of junior hockey.
Respected for his keen eye, he was appointed a selector for junior Brisbane and Queensland representative sides throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1980, he was awarded life membership of Northern Suburbs hockey club. When Les stepped down from club duties in 1981, he remained and ardent supporter.
In later years he became a proud grandparent many times over and, whenever possible, would help his grandchildren with their homework and entertain them with jokes.
After contracting a virus, Les died suddenly, aged 71.
He is survived by Dorothy, siblings Thora, Alan, Noel, Merv and Anete, his six children and 17 grandchildren.
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The above contents were published in the Brisbane Courier Mail on Thursday, September 30, 2004.
On a personal note I would like to say that all of us at Norths admired Les for what he was – a lovely gentle man who always had a kind word to say and who loved his family, his extended hockey family and hockey in general.
Rest in Peace Les.