Duncis Gary
| Type of person | Individual |
|---|---|
| Place of birth | Port Lincoln |
| Principal occupation | Driving Instructor |
Gary Duncis - Gary Duncis Driving School
"I love the country life...."
A country boy, Gary was born in Pt Lincoln and lived there until he was 10. His father Ziggy was a new Australian from Riga, Latvia and landed in Australia in 1948. Ziggy initially stayed at a migrant camp in Islington before joining the South Australian Railways (S.A.R.) learning train working, signalling, train operation, air brake safety, and train coupling. Ziggy met his wife Alice in Pt Lincoln and had 3 boys and one girl. With work being a bit restrictive in Pt Lincoln Ziggy was then transferred to Gawler for his own advancement and job opportunities for the kids. Ziggy would work as a train guard on the old red hens but also on the Blue Bird passenger train on the Peterborough country line. As a railway house was not available at the time the family moved to #5 Bacton St at Evanston and lived there for a while before moving on to #9 Elaine St also at Evanston. Gary married at 25 and spent a short time in Gawler East before moving on to Salisbury East.
"I've always been involved with sport...."
Gary attended the old Evanston Primary School and became dux of school in yr 7, 1965. He then attended Gawler High through to 1969. He had a real love for sport, especially Basket Ball and he even fondly remembers a time of thrashing Nuriootpa High, ".. on the court between the woodwork building and the domestic science centre."
"It was easy getting work in those days....."
Gary followed in his fathers footsteps working in the rail industry for South Australian Railways and the Australian National Railways taking on such roles as junior clerk, purchasing officer, OHS officer, quality control officer, depot stores clerk at Peterborough, inspecting railway sleepers (railway ties) at Tailem Bend and Naracoorte, and warehouse manager up until he retired at 45. He worked happily in the industry until it was privatised which then gave Gary the opportunity to work for himself and he decided to become a driving instructor. Whilst he'd never done anything like it before all the skills he learned coaching tennis, basket ball, & even being involved with Apex cemented his decision to take up instructing people how to drive. He's accredited to conduct log book training and authorised to conduct VORT. Catching up with Gary at the time, he was in the process of teaching a 97 year old lady! So he's taught all range of ages and skill sets.
Gary and wife Susanna have been back in Gawler now since 2007 and it was great to come back to some of his old haunts and bumping into old footy and tennis players from back in the day. So he moved to Gawler when he was 10, moved away in 79, and then came back in 07. He certainly has seen a lot of changes but has really embraced the differences and culture we have in our town these days.
He's played a lot of sport here in Gawler. He was first associated with the Railways Tennis club (overway Bridge - Mrs Ireland and Sachse were the coaches), Gawler High School Basketball Club, The Gawler Lions (They were the foundation club who became Central Districts Lions Basketball Club), and played aussie rules for the South Gawler Football Club (back when the club rooms were on Fourteenth St).
"I'm not one to sit on my hands and I'm always looking for opportunities....."
Gary is now training indigenous people to drive in the APY lands. He was approached to teach people coming to Adelaide from the APY lands and Northern Territory through Wiltja Boarding. As you can imagine, driving around Adelaide is vastly different to driving around the APY lands. An advert came up with an opportunity to teach in the APY lands and Gary jumped at the chance. His experience with Wiltja and the fact he could both test and train meant he was very valuable to conduct the tests in the lands. He'll travel as far as Pipalyatjara which is 1,824 km's away in the northwestern corner of SA. The program has progressed now seeing him visit places like Ceduna, Oak Valley, Pukatja, Kaltjiti, Mimili, and Coober Pedy. It's all part of the On the Right Track Remote program and whilst it can be a long way to go for just one student sometimes, it's always very rewarding.
Over the 10 years Gary has been involved with the program the percentage of individuals getting their licence has risen from 15% to 45% increasing threefold.
"It really is making a difference to each community..."
First shared on Gawler in Photographs ‘Humans of Gawler’ series 10 January 2024.
Photographs by Daniel James Down. Please click here to visit the Gawler in Photographs Facebook page.
Gawler History Team Inc thanks Daniel James Down (Gawler in Photographs) and the subjects of ‘Humans of Gawler’ for allowing us to preserve their profiles and photographs for future generations of Gawlerites to enjoy.
Please click here to view photos of Gary Duncis
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