125 stories for 125 years

Neil Werner OAM

Neil Werner was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2005 for service to the performing arts, particularly the Australian National Piano Award; and community health, aged care and welfare groups

After graduating from the college, Neil moved to Boort with his wife Erna and lived there for seven years before moving to Shepparton in 1964. There he set up a pharmacy from scratch and was in practice for 35 years, retiring in 1999. While in Boort he was on the board of the hospital and when he moved to Shepparton he was quickly invited to join the board of the Goulburn Valley Hospital on which he served for many years, with two terms as President. He was on the committees that established the Valley Drug and Alcohol Services and the Personal Emergency Telephone Counselling service, which was later taken over by Lifeline.

Since 2000 he has served on the Shepparton Retirement Village Board, which oversees the care of 600 local aged people. Neil has a passion for the arts and was instrumental in establishing the Australian National Piano Award, which grew out of a local initiative – the Shepparton Piano Award. The Award attracted such a wealth of talented young people from around Australia that it has grown into the pre-eminent award for Australian pianists. Neil also represented the Goulburn Valley on the Pharmacy Guild of Australia (Victorian branch) Board for several years. On receiving the Order of Australia, Neil said, ‘It was a great honour and surprise, I was delighted. But half of the award should go to my wife Erna. It has been a team effort over the years!’