Gai Waterhouse | Gai Waterhouse News 59202 George Altomonte Eulogy

I would like to start by welcoming you all here to celebrate the life of my father George.
My family and I take great comfort in the outpouring of love and affection shown to us by
all who knew him.

Dad led an amazing full life. He was called different things by different people. Son of
Caterina and George, Brother of Jose, Hilda and Betty, Husband to Rosa, Father to Me,
Caterina and John, Grandfather to Carolina, Lara, Tommy, Giovanni, Emilia, Arabella
and Georgio, Uncle to many, colleague, Boss, Mentor, Mechanic, Panel Beater, boat
builder, Inventor, farmer, builder, car guy, Horse breeder and GA
Born in Wahroonga in 1935, Dad was the only surviving son of Caterina and George who
migrated from Italy.

He attended Warrawee public school until he was 16 then North Sydney Tech where he
studied motor mechanics, Panel beating and Spray painting.
During the years of WW2, despite being a naturalised Australian, his father was interned
at the Loveday camp in South Australia. This left Dad as the man of the house to look
after his 3 sisters and mother as there was no such thing as welfare. To do this he
worked the family market garden in Wahroonga where they grew potatoes as well as
attending school.

Even at a young age Dad always looked for a better way to do things. When he was
about 17 he drew a plan of a machine that he could use to pull behind the family
Clydesdale to help harvest the potatoes. He showed his plans to a neighbour who was
so impressed he offered Dad the money to buy what he needed to build the machine,
this money was given on the condition he builds 2, one for him and one for Dad. So he
set off and with his mechanical skill built a horse drawn potato harvester. It worked so
well that the neighbour told him that he must go to the Patent office in Sydney and
patent it. Whilst in the queue someone approached Dad and asked to see what he had.
Dad showed him his drawings and the man offered him 500 pounds there and then to
sell him the plans. Dad had never seen so much money and as he said to me when
telling the story, “I took that money so quick I think it may have burnt his fingers”. As it
turned out the man worked for a company called International Harvester and Dads
machine was the basis of the potato harvester we still see today.
At 21 Dad bought a petrol station with a mechanical workshop on the corner of Fullers
Rd and Pacific Highway, Chatswood. The site of the current VW Dealership and Head
Office. Here he worked 18 hour days in order to get ahead, Pumping fuel and repairing
cars.

At around the same age, Dad wanted a boat. He had no money to buy a boat so he
decided he would build one. He bought a plan of a model boat and scaled it up, He built
the frame and then steamed every piece of timber to bend it into shape. Once complete
he put an old truck motor in it. The boat could pull 6 water skiers out of the water
without even breaking a sweat. That boat is the one pictured in your book.
In 1961 at 26 Dad married my mum Rosa right here in the beautiful St Mary’s Cathedral.
They went on their honeymoon to Italy by ship. Prior to going Dad had arranged to buy 4
brand new Fiat Cars and 4 new Fiat tractors which he planned to bring back to Australia
and sell in Chatswood. They picked up one of the cars on arrival and used it to tour
around Italy, You could call that car his first ever Demo. When it was time to return to
Australia, he picked up the rest of the cars and tractors and loaded them onto the same
ship that he was returning to Australia on. He said to me that everything he had in this
world was on that ship.

Once back home in Australia Dad bought himself a tow truck to expand the business.
Mum would operate the telephone and radio Dad with the job details. He would go out
in the tow truck at all hours of the day and tow the smashed cars back to his workshop
in Chatswood. In those days it could take up to 6 months to get a car repaired as the
vast majority of cars on the road were from Europe. By the time the parts list was sent by
telex to the factory in Europe and then the parts were boxed up and sent to Australia by
ship, often with a few parts missing, the process was very time consuming. Dad took
this problem and made it into an opportunity. He would convince the owners of the
smashed cars to just buy a new car rather than wait for the repair. Then he would buy
the smashed car from them. He would eventually get all the parts and fix the car and put
it out the front of his business in Chatswood and sell them. This was the beginning of his
Car industry Career.

In 1968 Dad was invited to become part of the Ford Dealer Development program. This
is how all the household names in the Ford business began and Dad opened Alto Ford in
Gordon. This was the turning point in his business life.
Without going into every detail of his most amazing career in the Motor industry the
business that started with 4 cars, 4 tractors and a tow truck has grown to 17 Dealerships
with 4 more under construction, employing 700 staff, servicing 70,000 cars and selling
14,000 cars per year.

Not only did Dad work very hard to improve his own business he also dedicated himself
to improving the entire Motor industry. He was the Chairman of the Motor Trades
association of NSW for many years. He wasn’t happy just helping the Dealers of NSW,
he wanted to help every Dealer in Australia so he founded the Motor Trades association
of Australia. In 2004 he was honoured with a Lifetime award for service to the Retail
Motor Trades and I quote “for his 25 years conspicuous service to the interests of motor
Vehicle Dealers and the retail motor trades through his participation in their
representative bodies and for his significant role in the establishment of MTAA and for
his services as the Foundation President of MTAA, Foundation Chairman of the MTAA
Superannuation Fund and Foundation Chairman of MTAA House in Canberra”.
Very few people know that Dad started a super fund. He wanted to ensure that every
worker in the Motor industry had a secure future. He didn’t want the industry to get
forced into one of the union backed super funds. I can say for sure he did it for all the
Mechanics out there, just like him, that were too busy working hard for their families
without time to focus on their retirement. The MTAA super fund went on to become one
of the largest super funds in Australia and is now known as Spirit Super.
If all of this wasn’t enough Dad also decided he wanted to continue with farming. Given
his childhood on the land Dad was keen to buy a farm. Eventually he found one in
Branxton in the Hunter Valley. This farm was 2,000 acres and he started by growing
cattle. He was one of the pioneers of Artificial Insemination of cattle in Australia. He did
all his research and decided he was going to grow a breed of cattle called Chianina. This
breed is one of the largest and oldest breeds in the world and was very drought tolerant.
Dad thought this was fantastic as he would produce a bigger animal and therefore get
more money for them. Unfortunately, none of the books he read explained how
downright mad they were. I can remember as a kid Dad running for his life out of the
cattle yards with a giant white cow in hot pursuit. He jumped the fence in a single
bound. Dad was a very quick learner and the Chianina breeding program only lasted
about 3 years.

Branxton was the place his horse breeding career started. Dad decided he was going to
breed horses and the stock horse was where he would begin. He did all his research, as
he always did, and eventually bought a Stallion named Cecil Bruce. Cecil Bruce was
Australia’s first ever registered Stock Horse. Rego number 1. Dad loved breeding horses
but soon discovered there was no money in Stock Horses. A friend of his told him that if
he wanted to breed horses then he should be breeding thoroughbreds.
At around the same time Dad decided he wanted a bigger farm and so the search
began. He and I would spend every weekend driving all over NSW looking at farms. I
have so many fond memories of dad and I in his big Fords. We told stories and laughed.
He used the time to share so much of his knowledge and we would discuss so many
things.

The car cassette player had just been introduced by Ford; they were the in-car 8- track
tape player. They were very big. This was a game changer for Dad and I on our long road
trips as the radio only worked in towns. Originally, he only had 2 cassettes, Neil
Diamond Hot August Night and Neil Diamond Hot August night. The old cassettes would
get hot after a while and start to distort so it was my job to get the hot one out of the
player to cool down and fit the cool one in the player. That player was a dangerous piece
of equipment in those days, if you didn’t get your fingers out of the way quickly there
was every chance it would take them with the cassette.

After thousands of kilometres and endless weekends on the road Dad found the farm he
wanted at Dunedoo. Here he set up the Thoroughbred horse stud, vowed we would only
ever grow Angus or Hereford cattle and got his Merino sheep herd underway. Over the
years that followed he would buy any neighbour who wanted to sell and from an initial
farm of 4,800 acres he grew that farm to 18,000 acres. A few years later he bought two
farms near Gunnedah on the Liverpool Plain where he grew cotton, wheat and sorghum
and although he vowed only Angus and Hereford cattle, he eventually decided Wagyu
were ok. Today his rural holdings amount to 40,000 acres and for Dad that was just his
side Gig. It was the place he was most happy and relaxed, and he was passionate about
his farms.

Growing up with an Italian background during the years of WW2 was tough for Dad but
rather than get bitter at the way he was treated Dad just grew stronger. He told me that
those tough years as a kid is what made him determined to become self-made and selfreliant. Dad approached everything he did with 100% effort and focus. He was a
perfectionist. Nothing was left to chance, and nothing was left unfinished. His memory
was extraordinary.

My Dad was a man who never faulted in living by his values. He would often say to me
“Anthony always do the right thing, If they don’t like it it’s their problem and you can
always walk around with your head held high”. My Dad always did the right thing even if
it was to his own detriment. He fulfilled every promise he made, and his word was his
bond. His family were his beginning, middle and end. When you spoke to Dad, no matter
how busy he was, he would always stop to listen, he would be present, and never did he
make anyone feel they were imposing on his time. No matter what he achieved or what
he had he was always humble.

Dad was a great teacher. His method was simple, he taught by example. Whenever I am
not sure what to do I find myself thinking “what would Dad do”
Dad touched so many people’s lives. Although I was aware of it, the messages we have
received after his passing have taken me by surprise. Some of the words used to
describe Dad are: Present, A bloody good bloke, my mentor, Titan, Humble, Clever,
Shrewd, he never lost his common touch. One of our staff wrote “we sincerely bow our
heads in deep gratitude to George Altomonte for giving us the opportunity to work for
him, so that many of us, including ourselves, can dream of a hopeful future and lead a
stable life with our beloved families, all because of him”
I always wished my dad would live forever. Given the legacy he has left behind I guess
my wish was granted.

Dad, we are going to remember you for everything you did for us. We are going to miss
you. Your decency, sincerity and kindness will stay with us forever. What we will
remember you most by is the love you had for all of us. You put in a huge life and worked
so hard. Rest now and thank you for so many wonderful memories. We Love You.