Tom Anderson may have retired as chair of the Weston Creek Community Council after a decade of service, but his desire to keep the threads of his community connected has not waned in the slightest.
He was busy helping to organise a reunion on Saturday of players from his old rugby union team, Norths, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their grand final win (8-3) against Queanbeyan in 1971.
Mr Anderson joined the team by chance when he was a young public servant living in a flat in Campbell and some neighbours invited him to come to a game. The team had many recent new residents to Canberra, including a lot of teachers, and they formed a close bond.
"We became a family and have remained so," Mr Anderson said.
Turning 75 next Sunday, June 13, Mr Anderson last month resigned as chair of the Weston Creek Community Council, reckoning it was just time.
He'd retired from the public service in 2008 after 41 years (38 of those in Customs) and was asked by a friend soon after to come to one of the council's meetings.
He ended up deputy chair in 2009 and chair by mid-2010 and remained in the post ever since, helping Weston Creek to have a voice in decisions affecting the community, always even-handed and good-humoured in the role.
While Chief Minister Andrew Barr has in the past suggested community councils don't speak for everyone in a community and are slanted towards the views of older residents, Mr Anderson maintains they are representative.
"Older people still have a voice in society; the younger ones do, too. The young ones tend to respond to issues electronically, the older ones go to a meeting and voice their concerns," he said.
"We had two people in their 30s on a committee of eight so I think we did represent a range of residents."
In his working life, Mr Anderson was a departmental liaison officer for four ministers in the Howard government [Geoff Prosser, Chris Ellison, Warren Truss and Amanda Vanstone] and did stints in London, Brussels, Washington and Beijing with Customs.
"I had a very fortunate life with Customs," he said.
Mr Anderson and his wife Margaret have lived in Chapman since 1973. They paid a deposit of $7550 ("a lot of money in 1973") for a block of land in Perry Drive and built their own home.
Both were living at the Macquarie Hostel in Barton at the time and decided they would stay southside.
Mr Anderson was originally from Helensburgh, north of Wollongong, the son of mushroom growers. He moved to Canberra in 1968 "for three months", originally working for the Tax Office. Canberra drew him in.
"I suppose it was an easy life, with work," he said.
"I lived at Reid Hostel and walked up to Garema Place, which still had traffic through it then."
He met Margaret, originally from Newcastle and a maths teacher, when he was playing cricket for Easts.
"I'd been batting and someone said, 'Can anyone help teach Margaret how to score the cricket'? So we sat down together and that was it," he said.
Their marriage of 47 years is an inspiration. Mrs Anderson, 76, was diagnosed with dementia in 2002 and Mr Anderson has been her carer ever since.
"That's the deal," he said. "And she would do the same for me."
The couple have two children - Matthew lives in the United Kingdom and is a screenwriter and producer and Sally lives in Beijing working with a design company. She has two children, Stanley, 4, and Sunday, 2.
The family keeps in touch with FaceTime, including Mrs Anderson.
"She's there and it really does her good," he said.
And Mr Anderson hasn't quite signed off his community contributions - he's still secretary of the Probus Association of Canberra and District and a member of Lions Kambah.
A true community man.
