Jeffrey Fallon
This week we caught up with the very cheeky Mr Fallon, he mentioned with a big grin, “How I haven’t had a car accident yet is beyond me, I am the worst car driver in Australia.”
Name: Jeffrey Fallon
Age: 72
Where and when were you born? Taree in 1946
What are the most important lessons you've learned in life? To be fair and to try to think like the other bloke.
What’s the secret to a happy marriage? *smiles* Consideration for each other and punctuality.
What big world events were the most memorable while you were growing up? The Vietnam War- I was old enough to be considered for conscription. Also; when Balmain Tigers won the comp in 1969.
What is your favourite childhood memory? Playing footy for my sister school in Taree, I played the left behind position. *laughs*
What were some of your hobbies growing up? Football, football, football and a bit of cricket, not much study and a lot of fun.
What do you enjoy now? Well I’m retired now so I am finding retirement as not much fun, I was a publican in town for 20 years, I always had my finger on stuff, always knew what was happening in town, people would come to me for advice and now I find that I’m left out of it. I try to keep myself busy, I run a trivia day up here regularly and I’m trying to help organise things where needed.
Where did you meet your wife? At a party, I chased until she caught me.
What life advice would you pass along to the younger generation? Be honest and think like the other bloke, remember in business everything that you sell you can buy somewhere else, so you have to be alert to succeed in life.
What did you want to be when you grew up? I did everything that I wanted to do, I joined the Police force when I was 19 and left when I was 22, I worked with a finance company for 10 years, then sales and essentially, I was a salesman for the rest of my days. Balmain Tigers imported me in 1970 (after winning the comp the year before) and I set them back 40 years *laughs* I played with them for three years, it was magic, although I was never a regular first grader, I was a fill in player, but I loved it.
What was your first job? A shop assistant at FJ Palmers clothing store in Penrith, that was whilst I was at school.
What was your favourite job? The (Metro) Pub- I found that I had a good grasp of hospitality, I succeeded where a lot of other people had failed. I owned it for 20 years.
What are you most proud of? My success at the Pub, it was a landmark at its peak. My greatest claim to fame was introducing the part up the top, it was sensational, beautiful view, it had been there for 120 years and no one had ever used it. I’m also proud that I helped save the Hawks Football club when they were in trouble in the 1990’s.
Who is the person who influenced your life the most? Why? My wife and my daughter both had a huge say in the success of the pub and they kept me on track. I’d get a bit excited and irrational at different times and they kept the reins on me and stopped me from making some bad decisions.
How is the world today different from what it was like when you were a child? There are too many mobile phones and computers, too many bad drivers, poor football *smiles*.
What’s your favourite joke? It’s unprintable *laughs* I live in constant fear that when I die and go to heaven, what if they don’t have chocolate there? It wouldn’t be heaven would it?