February 4, 2026
A large funeral was held in Kingaroy last month for former South Burnett Times editor Keith Kratzmann who died, aged 91, on January 2.
Keith was well-known throughout region for both his writing and the local yarns he would share with friends.
In recent years, he submitted several stories which southburnett.com.au enjoyed publishing.
Rest In Peace, Keith.
Here is an edited version of the eulogy which was read at Keith’s funeral on January 9:
* * *
Keith Edward Kratzmann was born in Murgon in tough times. The year was 1934 and Australia was coming out of the world depression which had seen millions of dollars swept away overnight and huge unemployment and food lines a mile long in every city in Australia.
Keith’s Mum and Dad – a World War I veteran named Bill and a hardworking mother affectionately called Dolly – were sharefarming on a property at Speedwell, not far from what is now Lake Boondooma.
When Keith turned two, the owner of the farm informed Bill and Dolly that he could no longer afford to pay them their percentage of the share farm proceeds as his son needed a job and he had priority over the Kratzmanns, despite Bill working 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
Bill was forced to head to Brisbane in search of work while Dolly and the children remained in a run-down shack with none of the essentials such as electricity or running water.
Keith’s Dad finally obtained work in the expanding Herman Kratzmann’s building business at Toowong. It looked as though he had found a decent job with good future prospects when one summer night in 1938, Keith’s Dad and brother Herman had a major dispute at dinner over Herman “somewhat” supporting the rise of Hitler’s Germany.
Bill was a man of strong beliefs and knew what was right and what was wrong. He thus quit the business that night and turned his backyard into a vegetable garden to sell produce at the Brisbane Markets.
(On a side note, the Toowong building business developed into one of the biggest and most successful businesses in Queensland. Oh, what could have been, except for that clash of ideals between the two brothers.)
Not long afterwards, Bill was offered a position on a dairy farm, firstly at Ellesmere and then at Booie, with the Perrett family, a South Burnett pioneering family.
Keith commenced school at Booie in 1939; to be followed by his little brother Colin. The two boys became inseparable throughout their boyhood years.
Oldest brother Harold was already working as an apprentice butcher. Another brother, Arthur, had been attending school at St Mary’s Convent in Kingaroy and as clearly the brightest kid in the class was recommended by the nuns for a Nudgee College scholarship. Arthur, a brilliant student, quickly rose through the ranks at Nudgee and was set for a teaching career when he registered for the Air Force as World War II was raging in the United Kingdom and Europe.
Harold, Arthur and step-brother Jim Seabrook all served their country with distinction and Keith served in the National Service in his late teenage years.
Meanwhile, back in Queensland, the Kratzmann clan were on the move again after being offered a dairy farm to run at Carmile, near Sexton, 40km north-west of Gympie. Thus, a new school for Keith.
However, after only three months at Carmile, the school closed down due to lack of students. Keith’s closest school was then Woolooga, some 20km away. No school bus, of course, in the 1940s so Keith left every morning before 7:00am, firstly to ride his chestnut mare, Locket (who was borrowed off the neighbours), some 8km, before boarding the Sexton train to Woolooga, then an easy 2km walk from the station to the school.
It was 2 1/2 hrs each morning to get to school but only two hours to return. The reason for the difference?
Well, the 8km horse ride included the crossing of an old rickety timber bridge. Keith’s beloved Locket, would simply not cross the bridge on the way to school despite Keith’s urgings, so he would have to walk her through the gully over which the bridge stood. She would also baulk at this, sometimes taking 20 odd minutes to finally relent and cross over. Of course, she knew on the way back that she was heading home for her lucerne, so would see the bridge and bolt straight across the clickety-clack bridge with Keith holding on for dear life!
Tragedy then stuck. Keith’s mum, Dolly, had earlier lost twins Jack and Joan shortly after their birth. Then Keith’s sister, 18-month-old Stella, the apple of Dolly’s eye, accidently pulled a boiling pot of water off the kitchen stove and died from the scalding.
Dolly never recovered. She spent her next 45 years in special wards of hospitals; firstly in Brisbane and then for the majority of time, in Oakey, where she passed away in 1989.
Due to his wife’s hospitalisation, Keith’s Dad needed to get work and lodging in Brisbane. With that in mind, he went to see his brother Herman again. While not getting a job in the direct building side of the business, he did succeed in obtaining a job in the sawmill.
Keith and Colin returned to Booie where they were looked after by Dolly’s brother, Jack. Uncle Jack had lost a leg in an earlier accident and while he had just his right leg, he worked as hard as any man and was an inspiration to both Keith and Colin.
The headmaster at Booie was very strict; today he simply would not have a job. His way to teach slow to learn students was by the use of the cane. Keith always said if his Dad was in Booie and not Brisbane, he would have knocked that headmaster to the ground. Keith who would never normally utter a bad word about anyone would recount later in life that the headmaster was “truly a bastard!”
When the war concluded in 1945, Arthur returned to Queensland as a qualified teacher and Keith joined him to finish his schooling at Warra. Warra held the occasional race meeting and Arthur arranged some odd jobs for Keith so that he could take his “own” money to his first ever race meeting.
The last thing Arthur wanted was for Keith to become a punter, as money was simply too hard for the family to waste. Arthur was privy to some good tips, but strangely enough asked his tipster “can you tell me one of the runners today that you think CAN’T win”.
That information was passed on, and Arthur duly said to Keith to keep his betting to just the one horse and tipped him the horse in question. The plan was simple, Keith would invest his measly earnings on that horse and it wouldn’t win and that would end young Keith’s interest in racing and gambling. Keith duly invested his 2/- on the horse in Race 7 in Sydney and YES, to Arthur’s dismay, it duly saluted at 5/1. Keith was the happiest lad in the world, collected his winnings and the next 77 years is history.
It wasn’t long before Arthur received a post as the sole teacher to the Stuart River school, located between Kingaroy and Kumbia. Keith loved his time living there, although not his schooling.
During that time, Keith had the opportunity to travel by train over a period of some 42 hours to see the world’s best batsman, Sir Donald Bradman, play in Brisbane against England in the 1946-47 Ashes Series. Keith, at 12 years of age, saw Bradman make 187. The same year, Keith saw his favourite horse – and the best ever in Keith’s opinion – Bernborough win the Doomben Cup, carrying 10st 11lbs (68.5kg), after winning the sprint race, the Doomben 10,000 only seven days earlier.
While at Stuart River, Arthur and Mary welcomed their first child into the world, born at the Kingaroy Hospital. Keith was given the job by Arthur to ride his pushbike into Kingaroy (some 90 minutes each way) to find out if the baby was born. Keith returned some five hours later to inform his older brother and beaming father that the baby had been born and both were doing well. Arthur then asked the obvious question: “Well, have I got a boy or a girl?” Keith replied “Oh I forgot to ask that!”
Keith failed Grade 7 and did not matriculate to High School so was bundled off to Brisbane at the age of 13 to find work in the big city.
With the help of his Dad, his first job was at the plumbing firm of JR Whylie and Sons at Albion, sweeping floors and filling hundreds of kerosene and methylated spirit bottles. After nine months, he was thrilled to be told he had been upgraded to messenger boy. That job entailed delivering parcels to the northern sector of Brisbane, predominately around Fortitude Valley. The main mode of transport in the inner city of Brisbane at this time was by tram, but the tram tracks were to bring about the demise of Keith’s new position.
On a late Thursday afternoon, with a parcel to be delivered to a building site that was urgently needed for the early morning start the following day, Keith set off on his bicycle and cart.
Unfortunately only a block or two from the site, the wheels of his bike ended up locked in the tram track and he was heading downhill. Bikes at that time were predominately fixed wheel, which meant the only brakes you had were to roll your pedals backwards, impossible to do stuck in the tram tracks. The good news was the tram track ended at Bowen Hills… the bad news was it was now some 2.5 miles from his intended destination. Keith’s dream of becoming a plumber were shattered the next day when he was politely told he needed to look for another job.
And so his return to the South Burnett, where Keith was to spend 53 of his remaining 76 years of life. Keith arrived in Kingaroy at the age of 15 late in 1949 and started to work with Warne’s Fruit and Vegetables.
He loved his work, it gave him a chance to talk to customers and to learn about fruit and vegetables.
“Only buy fruit when they are in season he would tell his family for years to come – that way they are in their prime and at the cheapest price due to quantities available.”
A year later he was offered an apprenticeship, something his Dad said was the best thing for him, and thus started at the Kingaroy Herald as a printing compositor. He was to remain in the newspaper business for 31 years, rising from apprentice to Senior Compositor and then after teaching himself to type – and by attending night lessons to learn shorthand – he became Senior sports writer at the South Burnett Times.
It all culminated in 1968 when he became Editor-in-Chief at the Times, a position he held for 14 years. Not bad for someone who couldn’t pass year 7 exams.
In 1951, disaster struck for the young Keith. Whilst unloading logs at the Brisbane Sawmill, his Dad was tragically killed when a log slipped off the railway truck and landed on him. Keith now at the age of 17 was on his own, older brothers Arthur and Harold were in Canada and Townsville, and younger brother Col was still at school.
In 1951, Keith began boarding with Wally and Agnes Houghton in Kingaroy. The Houghton family included three daughters, Barbara, Patricia and Valerie. It wasn’t that long before an attraction began and Keith started to court Barbara. The relationship grew and they were soon seen together at the movies, local dances and, of course, games of basketball at which the not-so-bashful Keith excelled.
Basketball became the number one sport in Kingaroy and district in the 1950s and 1960s.
An entrepreneur in Phil Schober, a signwriter by trade, had just moved to Kingaroy and it wasn’t long before Phil and Keith became friends. The pair visited the Commercial Hotel one Friday evening and asked the owner, Jack Tuite, whether there was any possibility that the vacant block in Haly Street across the road from the pub could be developed as a basketball court. The answer was yes and within 12 months the court was in use.
At its height of popularity there were more than 60 teams playing basketball, from Under 8s right through to A Grade, both in Men’s and Women’s.
Kingaroy became a mecca for star players with quite a few from the town representing Queensland.
Keith’s fondest memory, and most told story, was about something which happened in the early 1960s.
Keith, whose previous team Pirates had won 93 games straight, formed Dominos, predominately a young team under his leadership. They had to take on the might of the top teams: Red Lions and Boomerangs. The latter had great friends in Reg Walker and Nelson Dimond playing for them. It was the 1963 Grand Final and the hot favourites, Boomerangs, led Dominos by a point with five seconds left in the game. Keith received the ball on the halfway line and let rip a “hail Mary” and the ball launched into the air. Just before the buzzer sounded, the ball went through the basket, all net and the final was won. Boomerangs’ star and great friend Reg Walker turned to Keith and said “You arsey bastard”.
Keith and Barbara were married in Kingaroy in 1955 and lived in houses in Pound Street, Railway Terrace and finally 17 Gladys Street. The marriage was full of love, laughter and happy times and saw the arrival of their son Wayne (officially Darryl Wayne – Wayne has never forgiven his parents for that) and eight years later, the baby girl Barbara wanted arrived in the form of bouncy, happy Maree.
Both children went to school at Taabinga Primary and then Kingaroy High School and have grown into fine adults who both credit their success in life to the loving upbringing that they had. Keith and Barbara had a large group of friends and were always seen together at local dances, sporting events and family occasions.
Barbara was often helping Keith with his correspondence duties with the ABC and the Courier-Mail. Whilst Keith loved his work at the Times, he was most proud of the stories that got aired or printed with the ABC and the Courier-Mail. He loved that, as those stories showcased how great the South Burnett region was.
Keith had a wonderful gift of ensuring the local unsung heroes as he called them, got the bouquets they deserved.
Keith became a journalist of great credibility. He was always on the lookout for a good story.
While the paper under his management related the news as it was, Keith was always keen to see his local Member, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, recognised for his work as well as reporting on the great efforts from local councils, whether that be Murgon, Wondai, Kingaroy or Nanango local governments.
Life was good, work was hectic but rewarding. Keith was enjoying both golf and bowls and things financially were good for the first time in his life. He was providing for his family as he wanted to.
He also topped the poll at the 1979 Kingaroy Shire Council elections and represented the town of Kingaroy as a councillor for the next three years.
Then in August 1981 tragedy again hit. Keith was on a fishing trip with mates on Fraser Island and received a phone message to say Barbara had collapsed at home in Gladys Street and was on her way by ambulance to St Andrews Hospital in Brisbane.
By the time Keith, Wayne and Maree got to Brisbane late that Friday afternoon, Barbara was on life support. Later that night, she was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. She died in hospital at the age of 44.
Barbara had gone to the doctors some 11 years earlier complaining of headaches and was diagnosed as having stress, and told to take up smoking. It’s daunting to know that Barbara passed away at 44 years of age and Keith has now passed away a further 44 years later.
The family lost an angel, an incredible lady, a great wife and the best mum Wayne and Maree could possibly have had.
Four months after Barbara’s passing Keith thought it was time to move from the South Burnett. He wasn’t happy with the direction of the newspaper.
The new owners insisted on writing the headlines to the stories that the local journalists had written and researched. They insisted on a more sensational slant to stories and to have stories written based on some readers complaints more so than what was actually the facts. Keith, true to his style and no doubt because of the standards his father had instilled in him decided to move on.
The move took him back to Brisbane and after a short time driving trucks for Castlemaine Perkins, a position became available with the Catholic Leader newspaper as the advertising and marketing manager. It was a working life of a difference, weekdays working for the Catholic Church and weekends working for a Brisbane bookmaker at the races. Only Keith could combine the two!
It was a Saturday night after the races that Keith decided to go to the Jazz Club in Adelaide Street as he still loved to dance. That decision was to change his life.
It was there that he met a country girl from Miles, one Gayle Brownlie. The pair clicked, their romance blossomed and Keith and Gayle were married in March 1983. Maree and Wayne were part of the wedding party and they have loved Gayle from their first meeting. They agree that their Dad met an angel who gave Keith a wonderful life spending 42 years together.
Keith and Gayle purchased a lovely home at Everton Park and it was into this home that they welcomed their daughter, Lisa Maree. Lisa was born in 1985 and like her mother is a beautiful soul whose presence always lights up the room. Keith and Gayle spent their years at Everton Park throughout Lisa’s schooling and were joined for four years by grand-daughter Jodie who boarded with them while studying in Brisbane.
Keith was attempting to modernise the Catholic Leader but to no avail and thus he decided to resign and look for something else to do. Due to him playing bowls regularly and a budding friendship with the local bowls merchandise distributor, Keith found an opportunity. He had a supply chain, he knew all about bowling clubs and thus in three months, he was off, loaded up with bowling accessories for sale. He sold bowls, wallets, ladies handbags, bowling bags and anything a bowler might need.
The business boomed and he always said that everyone loved the smell of leather. He also stocked vinyl bags that were made in China but the tags saying such funnily enough were always missing upon sale!
So after some travelling overseas, and Lisa’s education finished in Brisbane, Keith and Gayle made a decision to move back to the South Burnett. It made sense, house prices were cheaper, family were there and he was offered a job to report on council meetings for the SB Times.
Thus the Murgon boy and Miles girl moved back to the country, Keith’s beloved South Burnett. Together, they built two beautiful homes, the latest in Dangore Street where they still resided until Keith needed hospital care in November.
Up until 15 months ago, Keith enjoyed good health and loved his time spent with Gayle, whether it was travelling or sipping a glass of wine with some cheese and bickies as the sun set over Tingoora. Keith would be devastated if he knew he would pass away outside of his beloved South Burnett region, all because the governments of today still cannot find enough money to appropriately fund our aged care needs.
Keith Edward Kratzmann, loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather lived his life in style, always trying to make someone else’s life a better one.
From a humble beginning and with major tragedies haunting his life on a far too regular basis, Keith fought back, ensured his family were happy and found ways to make his friends have a better life. Whether that was by stories he wrote, obituaries he penned or simply over a beer at his local pub, Keith made people smile and laugh and to feel better about themselves and their lot in life.
He was the proudest of dads and that extended to his grandkids and great-grandkids.
He loved and cared for his beautiful wife Gayle whose reciprocal love and care for her husband gave Keith a life at home for an extended period of time. For that Keith’s children will be eternally grateful.
He was a brilliant sportsman excelling in basketball, cycling and bowling and yet he was an even better person.
Rest In Peace Keith. You will never be forgotten.
- Related article: Former Editor Turns 90
