Vale Geoffrey "Geoff" Douglas Robinson

It is a sad experience when a member of one of your colleague's family calls to advise you that his father has passed away. Such was the case recently when the son of good friend, Geoff Robinson, called to say that his father's long battle with Parkinson's disease over the past eight and a half years was finally over.

It was, of course, a far worse experience as the advancing illness had made speech impossible for quite some time. Like many, I enjoyed a good banter with our "dear Robbo", a term with which many of his close friends used to address him and he always had a story ready to share.

Geoff had required nursing home care for the past 12 months, a trying time for his family and us all.

The funeral service at Woronora Cemetery, conducted on September 13 by Rev. Jim Pettigrew was a true celebration of Geoff's great family life as his sons spoke of their father being a caring, loving, humorous individual who enjoyed being the breadwinner and provider and whose skills in his workshop produced, apart from toys, many practical pieces of furniture made from recycled materials. The four grandchildren also lovingly spoke of the many happy hours and days they spent with Grandpa.

We all would like to pay tribute to Geoff by extracting a short section from the ADIA sponsored book "A History of the Australian Dental Industry Association Inc., Volume 2", which the author, Josef Vondra, compiled in 2001 just as Geoff started to enjoy his retirement.

"Geoffrey Douglas Robinson could not have been a better choice to be appointed to the position of Executive Secretary of the ADIA to bring it into an era of a truly professional association representing a body of professional traders. Gregarious, with a proven ability to handle a wide range of people, Geoff Robinson brought into his position nearly five decades of experience in the industry. There weren't too many people in the Australian dental industry that he didn't know; there weren't many issues relevant to the industry that he wasn't familiar with.

"His involvement with the ADIA began in 1984 when he became State Secretary of the NSW Branch, a position he held until 1986. In 1989 he was appointed Executive Secretary of the ADIA.

"When he was first appointed as a paid, part-time executive secretary, all of his work was done from home. With the development of ADIA-run exhibitions and workshops from the mid-1980's onwards, Geoff was involved in a "hands-on" capacity in the organisation of all of these exhibitions as well as other trade shows and displays. Other major issues needing his legendary enthusiastic attention included helping the Association cope with the increased emphasis by Federal Government to control the industry, especially under the Therapeutic Goods Act, uniform standards of many dental items and a substantial upsurge in membership, which often required the provision of detailed information on regulations. There were also regular and frequent meetings of executives, directors, exhibition and various other sub-committees. His workload was not to be envied. Up to 1991, he was paid only for a two-day week!

"In 1991, the Directors of the Association, under the chairmanship of Axel Buchner and great input from the immediate Past President, Ian Hughes, made yet another positive move to place the ADIA on a firm professional basis - it purchased the strata title to premises in Elizabeth Street, Zetland, right in the heart of commercial Sydney.

"Up to his retirement in October 2000, Geoff was Chief Executive Officer and a full-time employee of the Association. In addition to the day-to-day running of the ADIA, he with other members of the Association sat on the influential TIME committee and he was a director of the Australian Dental Research Foundation Inc. He has, for a number of years, also presented courses on practice management to dental undergraduates in the final-year course at the University of Sydney. In 1999, he addressed the Dental Manufacturers of America (DMA) at the mid-Winter congress held in Chicago. The title of his address was "The Challenges of the New Millennium around the World". He has also represented the ADIA in face-to-face meetings with other associations overseas, including FDI, FIDE and the BDTA. He was an official delegate to the American Dental Trade Association's (ADTA) Annual General Meeting in 1997.

"The Australian dental profession has recognised that Geoff Robinson's goal over a long period of time has been to foster close relations and friendship between the Federal and State branches of the Australian Dental Association and the ADIA, especially in the organisation of trade exhibitions. For his great personal effort over many years, his general work within the dental industry and especially his help and assistance to the ADA and the dental profession, he was presented with the Federal ADA's "Order of Merit" in March 1993. In another recognition of his efforts, he was awarded Honorary Membership of the ADA (NSW) Branch.

"He also holds the meritorious 'Award for Excellence' from the ADIA, the Association he has served with such loyalty and dedication over the last decades.

"Geoffrey Robinson retired from his position as Chief Executive Officer of the Association in October 2000."

The presence of over 60 dentists and industry friends at the funeral service proved that Geoff will always have a special place in our hearts and memories.