Meryl Waterhouse from the Pakenham Gardening Club joined Dr Bruce Cox’s daughters Toni Walters and Suzanne Pawinka, MP Russell Broadbent and Cr George Blenkhorn at the memorial garden opening. 82449 Picture: Stewart Chambers
By Danielle Galvin
A PAKENHAM stalwart will be remembered with a memorial garden at the new library and hall.
Doctor Bruce Cox moved to Pakenham in 1956 and was a well-known surgeon and Pakenham Racing Club member.
He died in 1988 and a memorial was set up in his honour at the former library site. It was bulldozed in 2009 to make way for Pakenham Central Marketplace.
On Friday, more than 23 years after his death, Pakenham Gardening Club, Cardinia Shire councillor George Blenkhorn, and McMillan MP Russell Broadbent came together to celebrate the life of one of Pakenham’s founding fathers.
“To him, Pakenham was home,” his daughter Toni Walters said.
“He was extremely involved with the local horse racing groups, the Pakenham Racing Club, and started off all of the immunisations in the area.”
Ms Walters, who travelled from Queensland to be part of the ceremony, said it was an emotional day for her and her sister Suzanne Pawonka.
“Suzanne and I were extremely honoured that he died in 1988 and people still remember him today,” she said.
Dr Cox had four children with his wife Kath, who died 10 years after the couple moved to Pakenham.
Pakenham Gardening Club coordinator Meryl Waterhouse said Dr Cox left an important legacy in the shire.
“Dr Cox…was the council medical officer and family doctor,” she said.
“He was a friend to many and a bit of a character.”
Ms Waterhouse was disappointed to learn that his original memorial was bulldozed and contacted former Cr Bill Pearson, who told her they would find a new site. She was thrilled with the result.
“It was planted by members of the Pakenham Gardening Club and there was some landscaping done by Justin Mason Horticultural Services,” she said.
“I think it will look really good when the plants mature.”
The club contacted Dr Cox’s daughters, who were honoured to be a part of the special ceremony.
“The community was his home and his friendship base,” Ms Walters said.
“Both Suzanne and I were so pleased to see so many of the people who we have known from our childhood.”
Ms Walters was thrilled to see Mr Broadbent, who was a former neighbour on Gembrook Road (now Pakenham Road), and Graham Treloar, who had also known her father.
The sisters thought it was ironic that the home of their father’s practice was bulldozed to make way for a new doctor’s clinic. Their trip to Pakenham was a nostalgic and poignant reminder of their father’s work.
“Towards the end of his career he was delivering grandchildren of children he’d looked after and immunised,” she said.
Ms Walters thanked Cardinia Shire Council and Pakenham Gardening Club for their work in setting up the memorial.
