March 6, 2018
A funeral service will be held on Friday for well-known Kingaroy businessman and developer Allan Swendson, 73, who died on February 28.
The service will be held in Virgo’s Funeral Home Chapel, adjacent to the Taabinga Cemetery, from 1:00pm.
Retired businessman John Learmont recalled the huge amount of work Allan and his wife, former Kingaroy librarian Helen, did in the lead-up to the 50th anniversary celebrations of the opening of the new Kingaroy State High School.
In 1998, an old school friend gave Allan a copy of a photograph of the new high school’s first students, taken in 1958.
Allan began the task of tracking down the names of the 192 people in that photo … 175 students and 17 staff members.
The task literally took years …
The last name was found only days before the 50th anniversary of the official opening of the new high school was held in 2009.
Footnote: The centenary of the founding of the Kingaroy State High School will be held on September 8 this year.
