Vale Ian Bentley Still
Ian Still gave to his community of Kilmore through his legal practice which he started in 1968 and worked until the day he passed away. He loved his hometown and spent much of his life on the Kilmore Hospital Committee, Kilmore Football Club Committee, the Kilmore Tennis Club and Cemetery Trust, and was a Councillor for, then President of the Kilmore Shire.
He married Lyn in 1968 and had five children, Debbie, Tracy, David (Andrew), Fiona (dec) and Geoffrey. In 1997 Lyn passed away after a very short illness and he married Ann in 2003.
One of Ian’s closely held honours in life was the lasting legacy of having his name adorn the Queen’s College mascot, a goat.
The goat story began on the 8th September, 1965 at 11pm to be precise, at the general meeting, in the JCR when Jim Sloman (Wyvern 1963) stated, “It’s important the College acquires a mascot. Such a mascot could be paraded at intercollegiate events to give support to those gentlemen giving of their best for the College. The most appropriate mascot would of course be a Wyvern, but as these creatures are currently difficult to obtain the next best example would be a goat.”
The late John Barnett (Wyvern 1963) said, “For a goat to be a mascot of Queen’s it is vital that it have an impressive pedigree. Queen’s is a traditional institution and the mascot would have to have “good breeding”. The name Bentley would seem appropriate. As well the name should be hyphenated…to demonstrate an upper-class background. In order to recognise the significant contribution made to the College by Ian Still it would be fitting to associate the goat with that gentleman….It would be appropriate therefore to name the goat Bentley-Still the Second.”
Ian’s daughter, Debbie said, “Although Dad was a quiet humble man, he secretly loved the fact that the Queen’s mascot was named after him. He didn’t gloat about it, in fact the first time I ever recall hearing about it was when my grandmother (dad’s mother in law from his first marriage) produced the birth and death notices that would appear in the Herald Sun. I remember asking dad and he blushed. That was when the goat was born into our lives. As a child I didn’t really understand the significance of it, but as I grew older I realised what an honour was bestowed upon our beautiful father.”
With thanks to Debbie Rowe and Dr Jack Ayerbe (Wyvern 1965)