Ethel McCulloch 1882 – 25/8/1967 Born 1882, died August 1967 Mother of Edna Brewster, storekeeper in Coober Pedy Inscription etched into cement slab top reads: “This is where Edna laid me Under six feet of sod Waiting for the ascending day So I can meet my God”
Don Heath 1/5/1926 – 13/10/1969 Don, a mining engineer and Darlene Heath migrated from USA to Australia in 1956 with their 3 children, Debbie, Mona Lyn and Danny. They first went to Port Hedland WA, then were headed to Mt Isa when they heard about the Harts Range garnets and then were told about opal at Coober Pedy. They arrived at Coober Pedy in 1959 and lived in a caravan near the Opal Café, close to where the old CFS shed stands today. They went mining as well as working for the Miners Store. From 1963-1965 they ran the Opal Café [...]
James Connelly 1889 – 1/6/1921 From ‘The Transcontinental’ 24/6/21 “Excessive rains have fallen during the past month making the track impassable, the motor mail having been held up for three weeks. Severe colds are prevalent through the Field, several of the miners have been seriously ill. I regret to report the first death and burial here. James Connelly, who caught a severe chill, died on 1st June of what was believed to be pneumonia. There being no medical aid available the miners and ladies did all they possibly could for him, to no avail. Deceased, who was highly respected, was about [...]
HORACE MONTAGUE REID ? - 30/7 1946 Photo taken from footage shot in 1942 when he ran the Coober Pedy Store Horace was an Old Age Pensioner, storekeeper and radio operator. Extract from The News in 1946 “Until the death of Mr Horace Reid, a few days before I arrived, Coober Pedy had regular contact with the outside world by pedal wireless, as he was one of the few men in Coober who knew how to operate the radio transmitter. Strangely the set is now locked up in a dugout near the store, and the key is at a [...]
Herbert Wilson 17/1/1900 – 24/1/1961 Herbert (Bert) Wilson was born in Queensland on 17th March 1900. He was a mechanic and all round handy-man, able to build, fix, maintain and invent. In 1918, after returning from military service in WWI, he married his childhood sweetheart, Ethel. Together they worked as a contracting team moving around the Cape York Peninsula. Bert did the building and maintenance work on stations and Ethel helped in the homestead. He did a lot of work for the London Mining Trust and in l929 he moved to the Northern Territory where he worked on Victoria River Downs [...]
Hans Peter Figan 1901 – 10/5/1967 Hans Figan, a German national, jumped ship in Port Pirie during the first World War. He worked on farms. Eventually acquired his own farm northeast of Bordertown and attended the Bordertown Lutheran Church Later in life, he fitted out a van and was travelling around Australia. In Coober Pedy he parked his van on the west side of the Lutheran Mission Church. He had not been seen for 4-5 days and was found dead in his van. The Bordertown church congregation put up his memorial stone. Information: Olga Radke
Bertram Beck d. 27/6/1949 A prospector, aged 71 Died of myocardial degeneration
Billy (Pepper) Crombie 193l - 2/12/1969 Billy Pepper came from Mintabie/ Mount Willoughby and worked for the Rankins at Ingomar and Twins stations. He met his future wife, Eileen at this time as her father was mining opal at 12 Mile. Later, they met again when Eileen was at Kooniba Mission and Billy was working at Nuntjikompita. They were married at Pt Augusta and made a home there. Billy worked on the railways from Port Augusta, picked stumps on stations on Eyre Peninsula, in shearing sheds and was often called upon by the police for his skills as a black-tracker. In [...]
Carl Wendt c.1890 - 3/9/1952 Listed in the SA Directory 1939-1952, Prospector, Coober Pedy Information from the Coroner’s Report Aged about 62, Carl Wendt had lived at Coober Pedy for about 20 years and had been an opal prospector in early years but later had done nothing but lived on charity of other people who gave him gifts of money and food. He was an eccentric character and did not talk to many people or mix much. He lived in a dugout owned by Vic Williamson, where his body was found in an impoverished state, his death thought to be due [...]
William Henry Oliver 14/3/1878 - 1955 Bill Oliver enlisted in the AIF in 1915 and saw active service in Europe until he was discharged as medically unfit in 1919. (He had been gassed). He arrived on the Field in 1920, aged 42 and stayed at Coober Pedy for the rest of his life because he said, the air was good for his lungs. Before becoming the Post Master at the Underground Post office in 1940, he mined, bought, sold and cut opal and lived on Alp Street. From 1940 to 1947, being the Post Master, he also took on the positions [...]
