08 End of an era

1994: Peter O'Halloran at WFNMC2

When Peter O'Halloran arrived, still President of WFNMC, at the second WFNMC Conference at Pravets, Bulgaria, he seemed quite unwell. He said that in transit he had admitted himself to hospital in Heidelberg, and been told there was a serious problem, but he didn't elaborate.

Peter gave a plenary at the conference. It was mainly about how to get sponsorship. He had been the main reason for the AMC getting Burroughs and then Westpac sponsorship. Through a new consultant he felt he was on the verge of getting much bigger sponsorship which would sideline Westpac. For his lecture, which was attended with much interest, Peter was confined to a chair, while colleague Michael Evans was depended on to project the main delivery.

1994: Back home

Peter returned home about 01 August but then none of us heard from him for a week. We knew there were two things possibly going on. One was a likely trip to Sydney in a sponsor hunt. But more seriously, we knew that there were medical appointments.

A week into August the silence was broken. Peter called me to tell me the news. He had lost the use of a lung and the cancer he had could not be treated. In a very calm way he told me he had between 6 and 8 weeks. So commenced a remarkable period.

I was head of the University of Canberra's School of Mathematics and Statistics, a full time job. Each year I had been told the budget would go down a lot and I had to find savings, mainly by not replacing retiring staff. It was a depressing situation, but it had to be worked through. I had not thought of having to back up with the AMT also. But Peter saw me as his heir apparent, and he had things to tell me each day. I felt most uncomfortable, as there was no certainty I was his heir at all - it was clear the job would eventually be advertised and independently assessed anew. And I was not even sure initially that I wanted to move from my current job. I had not thought about this.

It was clear that Peter would not be able to continue his duties. There was a meeting of the AMTOS directors about 18 August and Judith Downes moved that I become Acting Executive Director of the Trust and this was arranged formally in coming days with Board Chairman Don Aitkin.

Peter held court at home. He carried a phone and continuously he would either make calls around the world or calls would come in. He planned his funeral in meticulous detail. Marjorie and the children were always around, looking after him with refreshments and whatever he needed.

Early on he chaired a family superannuation meeting. I was the Chairman of the University super fund of which he was a member. It was a fairly complicated fund with lump sum and pension options, or a combination involving the two. Daryl Dixon, a former O'Halloran neighbour and friend, and one of Australia's famous superannuation experts, was available, as was Max Neutze, their current neighbour, Deputy Vice Chancellor of ANU and later to marry Marjorie after his own wife had died. So sitting at a table, with Peter chairing, he, Daryl, Max, Marjorie and I worked through the various intricacies of the fund to determine the optimal solution for Marjorie.

It was also a time for final recognitions. The WFNMC decided in the circumstances Peter would receive their most important prize, the David Hilbert Award. Don Aitkin was available to make the presentation at a small ceremony at Peter's home, with Bernhard Neumann also present. The University also promoted him to full professor. And one honour, of which Peter was very proud, but had been decided in advance, was still to come. This was the education prize of the World Cultural Council. Only one of the Council's Prizes had previously been awarded to an Australian. Sir Gus Nossall had received the science prize.

In September Peter was now confined to bed and his condition was continuing to decline. Two of his children, Genevieve and Anthony, travelled to France to receive the prize on his behalf. Peter passed away within just a day of them returning to him with the prize, a copy of which is displayed in the Trust's meeting room.