Ron AndrewsPrint Page

The park commemorates Pakenham entrepeneur, Ron Andrews who died in 2003. 

Ron Andrews was the founder and benefactor of the Andrews Foundation. The Foundation was established during his lifetime when Ron decided to bring forward a bequest in his Will to benefit the citizens of Pakenham, Victoria. 

Ron Andrews was born to Stan and Merle Andrews in 1930 in a small house on Gembrook Road, Pakenham. He lived in the area his entire life and spent much of his youth in Nar Nar Goon, his later years in Berwick. He started work at 14 in a paling spot mill operated by his father and then bought a truck to cart logs to a sawmill. When that did not prove profitable he borrowed 500 pounds to put a deposit on a sawmill at Longwarry. Money made from the sawmill went into developing 650 acres of scrub and bush at Yannathan which was sold in 1969 to buy land in Pakenham at Mt. Shamrock where he established the Pakenham Blue Metal quarry in 1974.

Ron developed a number of other business interests in the area and in 1989 a major interest became Debco Ltd, a supplier of gardening materials. Debco has since expanded into an Australia-wide operation as well as establishing strong markets in Japan, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and South-East Asia.

The Andrews Foundation has made significant donations to the Meadowvale Retirement Village (which Ron founded), Millhaven Hostel, Pakenham Nursing Home, Pakenham Hospital, Warragul Hospital, sporting clubs, churches, community centres and more.

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