Tasman “Jack” Burgess
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at ReUnion 2014.
Mr Tasman 'Jack' Burgess was born and educated in Augathella, Qld, before moving to Charleville with his parents at age 14. It was here he commenced taxi driving for Nugget Humphries. He enjoyed the driving and eventually went into the taxi business himself for the next four years.
Jack Burgess had always held an attraction to trucks and sold up to go driving throughout the west to Brisbane for Phelans and later for Bob Fitzgerald for about five years. After fifteen years behind the wheel, Jack decided to leave the west and moved to Brisbane where he remained for the next three years. His love affair with trucks was not over however, he continued to drive both interstate and west to the Outback. A shift to Toowoomba followed and Jack took up a position with Riley's Transport where he drove regularly to the Northern Territory.
Jack Burgess was married in 1953 in Toowoomba, and his family eventually decided to return to the west. They chose to live in Aramac, where Jack worked for Ferguson's for three years, before moving to Blackall and working for Blackall Freighters where he stayed for nearly six years working trucks and carting fuel. Sadly, Tasman 'Jack' Burgess passed away in Blackall at just 58 years of age. After hearing of his death, Audrey and Neville Spiele, the owners of Riley's Transport in Toowoomba, described Jack as a very honest and hardworking man and a thorough gentleman. Throughout his long working life, Jack never failed to impress his employers with his 'can do' attitude to work and whatever job was at hand. His time with Ferguson's of Aramac also impressed his employers there, who described him as 'one in a million', and were sorry to see Jack, and wife Betty, leave the town. Mr Bob Baker, of Blackall Freighters, said Jack Burgess was one of the pioneers of modern transport; a trucking legend in the Outback!
In recent years Jack was well known in the Mack truck he drove carting fuel throughout the outback. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, six sons, two brothers and one sister.