One of life’s gentlemen leaves a lasting legacy

Lance Woodhouse…a giant in our community

Born February 12, 1925; died June 4, 2021.

SHEPPARTON and the wider Goulburn Valley is a fortunate place to live, and there is one person who has had much to do with making that luck.

Lance Woodhouse, who died on June 4 aged 96, was a force for good in the community and the Goulburn Valley is a better place for his wide-ranging good works.

Consider these local institutions and businesses who all shared in common the benefit of Lance’s unwavering support:
The Rotary Club of Shepparton (56 years of service).
Shepparton Mechanics’ Institute (involved in its restoration).
Driver Education Centre of Australia (helped facilitate its development).
Shepparton Villages and Tarcoola (a major driver of these pivotal aged care projects).
Kialla Lakes Estate and Archer’s Field at Mooroopna (CEO, founding director and chairman).
Shepparton Theatre Arts Group (STAG).
International Village.
Feltham Lawyers (60 years of devotion to the firm).

One of Shepparton’s great visionaries, Lance Woodhouse was either the founder or at the centre of all of these organisations over his lifetime.

A humble, generous and enthusiastic person, who had a vision for the region at a rare and extraordinary level, he helped pave the way for the prosperous, modern city that people from all walks of life enjoy today.

Long-time business colleague and friend, Graham Hofmeyer, described Lance as a visionary who achieved his goals by sheer determination. “Lance possessed great leadership skills and brought everyone on the journey. He was a great teacher,” Graham said.

He was one of Shepparton’s greatest leaders who never wanted praise or recognition.

A good friend and business colleague since the 1950s, Dom Segafredo, who worked as a partner with Lance at Felthams Lawyers, encapsulated what many have thought of Lance: “Lance was responsible for the most outstanding community program of all time, Tarcoola / Shepparton Villages,” Dom told The Adviser.

Rotarians, Lance and Keppel Turnour, got the ball rolling in the late 1960s as a not-for-profit idea for aged care which has since proved a resounding success in regional Australia. He added: “What Lance did for the community would be unparalleled.”

Lance joined Shepparton law firm, Felthams as a new law graduate in 1953 after graduating from Melbourne University. Dom started his articles shortly after in 1955. They both remained at Felthams and became lifelong friends.

Lance was the son of Emma and Gordon Woodhouse and brother to Guinevere, who died as a baby before Lance was born. Gordon was an astronomer and considered himself fortunate, as he had a job during the years of the Great Depression.

Educated at Scotch College, Hawthorn, Lance was an outstanding musician and went on to study at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music before his study and career in the law. Music ran in the Woodhouse family: Lance’s father, Gordon, sang in the Melbourne Philharmonic choir. During Lance’s time with the Conservatorium, his future wife, Wilma, helped him obtain a job as Editor of Publications at Melbourne University and Secretary to the Board of Studies in Journalism. In his new job he had to edit research papers because of their poor expression. Not once did he receive a complaint about the finished product.

Lance was a keen cricketer, playing for Scotch College, District Cricket for Hawthorn-East Melbourne and Melbourne University. A cricketing highlight as a spectator was when he saw Bradman score 300 runs in a day in a state match at the MCG.

A keen Melbourne Football Club member and Melbourne Cricket Club member, Lance and his wife Wilma would attend the football regularly. They would sit in the same seats behind the goals weekly and on one particular day in 1947 Melbourne’s full forward,

Fred Fanning, kicked a record breaking 18 goals against St Kilda. Lance’s claim to fame, which he on that famous day was known to have ‘dined out on’ for many years, was that he marked the football behind the goals that was eventually placed in the MCC museum.

One of Lance’s stories in the law involved acting for a Jewish Rabbi, who had been involved in a car accident. The claim was put on the basis that the accident had interfered with the Rabbi’s singing voice. The barrister on the other side coaxed the Rabbi into singing O Sole Mio and he did so, albeit reluctantly. Lance in his urbane manner remarked that the Rabbi sang it rather too well.

David Fordyce, another long-standing friend and work colleague of Lance at Felthams Lawyers, together with Ken Gilchrist, bought Lance’s share in the law firm in the mid-1980s. Feltham’s was eventually taken over by Dawes and Vary Riordan.

David said: “Lance was a giant of the community and small in stature. He had enormous drive and everything he took on, which was a huge amount of work, he would see it through. Lance officially retired at the fine age of 92.”

Lance was chairman of Kavant Nominees, developers of the highly successful and award winning Kialla Lakes and Archer’s Field, Mooroopna for many years before David took over as chairman about three years ago.

Kialla Lakes has proved a huge success over the years, mostly thanks to the foresight and vision of Lance, fellow founding directors, Peter Ross-Edwards, Max Brown, Peter Mountjoy, Norm McArthur, Dom Segafredo and Chris Baldwin.

Lance is survived by his wife, Wilma (Bryant) of 72 years and his two sons, Bruce and Andrew, grandchildren, James and Matthew.
Generous in so many ways, a man of great integrity, enormous character and strength, a committed lawyer, a committed community man, a devoted husband, father and grandfather, Shepparton has lost a true community hero who will be greatly missed.

The Adviser would like to acknowledge the contribution of material to this obituary by Adrian Ambrose, a fellow lawyer at Felthams Lawyers.

• 

• 

• 

• 

•