Don Reis

Ancestors

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Don Reis was a wonderful member of our WikiTree community who has passed away. Don Reis made many contributions and will be missed.

Biography

Don was born in Kingaroy, Queensland, Australia in 1952. He was educated at Kingaroy State Primary and High Schools [1958-1969]. Trained as a Primary School Teacher at Kelvin Grove Teacher's College in Brisbane He graduated in 1972. He taught at Taabinga State Primary school in Kingaroy, Queensland, Australia [1973]; Thursday Island State Primary School [1974]; Cannonvale State Primary School [1975]; Murgon State Primary School [1976-1982]; Wondai State Shool [1983-1984]; Wooroolin State Primary School [1985-1986]; Kingaroy State Primary School [1987 - 1st term only]. He survived a cancer scare after a class 4 melanoma was removed from his neck. In April 1987, he collapsed during shopping. The problem was not diagnosed for over 20 years. He lived very ill as an invalid with his parents. His father, Jack, died in October 1991. Don was forced to resign from teaching in early 1988. During his illness he painted a series of oil paintings [1990-1994]. He had done some art at Teacher's college and his mother, Evelyn and great aunt, Daisy Ferguson were local amateur artists. He also wrote unpublished literary works. Children's Fantasy novels 'The Glorious Effervescence of Blubbo' and 'The Colossal Bottomless Depths of Blubbo' [1995], graphic novels 'Ewe! The sheep Duffer's Hot 60' [1997/2014] and 'The Dribblies' [1987]. In October 2010, he suffered a heart attack followed by successful quadruple bypass surgery at the Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane. From an early age he was a keen gardener. He received his first camera at age 8 from his parents and developed an interest in photography. The purchase of a digital camera in 2012 led him to further develop his photography and he regularly exhibited on View Bug and other online sites. In 2011/2012, he wrote a semi-autobiographical novel 'Hopeful Songs on Dismal Days', [unpublished] the title coming from the Don McLean song, 'Winterwood'. In 2014 he rewrote his two children's Fantasy novels as a single novel 'Blubbo, Babblo and the White Pursho' [unpublished].

Sources

• First-hand information. Entered by Don Reis at registration.

'Looking Both Ways' - Murgon State Primary School Centenary book - Judy Mickan [2008]