Principal Rotarian

PAKENHAM Rotarian and former Pakenham Secondary College principal Rowley Harman will be remembered for his two passions in life – his family and his art.
Rowland William Harman passed away on Saturday after a year-long battle with motor neurone disease. He was 75.
Pat Harman, Mr Harman’s wife of 53 years, said he was passionate about art, spending most of his retirement years painting.
He closed the book on his teaching career in 1993, after 14 years at Pakenham Secondary College, where he had stints as principal and deputy principal.
Mr Harman was also well known in the community for his 20-year involvement with the Rotary Club of Pakenham. He was also involved in the Pakenham racing community.
But Mrs Harman said her husband’s biggest love was closer to home.
“His greatest passion, he always said, was his family,” she said.
Mr Harman studied arts and crafts at teachers college in 1952 and later at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He completed an art teacher’s diploma in 1962, and two years later held his first exhibition in Ballarat.
More recently, his landscape portraits were featured in two exhibitions at the Cardinia Cultural Centre. His depictions of the Strzelecki area and Mt Buffalo were among the paintings featured in an exhibition at the centre in 2003.
He joined the Rotary Club of Pakenham in 1989, where he served as president in 1995-96 and was a recipient of the prestigious Paul Harris fellowship in 2000.
Good friend and fellow Rotarian Graeme Begg said Mr Harman was a reliable and respected Rotary member who had a great sense of humour.
“He was very community-minded,” Mr Begg said.
“Within the club he always had great concern for other club members and made them feel comfortable.”
Mr Harman’s love of teaching will live on through his three daughters Louise, Elizabeth and Melanie, who all took up the profession.
He is also survived by his six grandchildren Made-leine, Christopher, Nich-olas, Andrew, Elly and Monique.
A funeral service for Mr Harman will be held at David Bull funeral home in Pakenham this Thursday at 1.30pm.