Scallywag sailor farewelled - John Gleeson

John Gleeson at the helm during his trip around Australia SW

John Gleeson, front, Jerry Humphrey from Yandina, and Bill Gleeson, right, sailing around Australia © SW

The son of a Gallipoli veteran and travelling picture-show man, Mr Gleeson was raised in western New South Wales and served in the navy during the Second World War.

He later became a pharmacist and worked in Sydney before his love of sailing led him to settle on the Sunshine Coast in the mid '70s.

'He was involved in the first Sydney to Mooloolaba yacht race in 1973,' son Bill explained. 'He did the race for a few years, and then in 1975 he decided not to go back to Sydney when it was over.'

In 1978, Mr Gleeson, his son and two other Coast locals sailed around Australia on his 35-foot monohull Odyssey in a voyage seemingly prompted by national pride.

'When Dad heard it hadn't been done, he said ‘we better do that before a Frenchman or a Pom does it’,' Bill said with a laugh. 'We left two months later and in those days, before satellite navigation and modern communications, it was a bit of an adventure.'

Mr Gleeson became commodore of Mooloolaba Yacht Club, where he was central to the creation of the marina.

Bill said his father’s vision was to make Mooloolaba the sailing capital of the South Pacific, and he would have been horrified by ongoing dispute at the club today.

A resident of Buderim, Mr Gleeson owned pharmacies at Mooloolaba, Alexandra Headland and Woombye, and after spending some years working in communities in WA’s Pilbara region, he returned to the Sunshine Coast to retire.

Bill said his father had a wide circle of friends in Sydney and on the Sunshine Coast through his sailing, professional and political interests, and he was loved by all.

'I don’t think he made an enemy in his life,' Bill said. 'He had many influential friends, he was well respected in the yachting community, both here and in Sydney, and as a pharmacist he was a cracker. He was a statesman, very articulate, but he loved mucking up too – he was a scallywag.'

Mr Gleeson is survived by his wife, Jean, and five children. His funeral will be at the Gregson and Weight chapel on Wises Road, Maroochydore on Thursday at 1pm.