Mr Peter Noel BYRNE
(21st June 2002, aged 79
years).
Peter joined the army at the end of 1940. Later he trained in water transport
and in 1944-1946 saw duty in Port Moresby, Wewak and New Britain After the war,
he completed his matriculation and studied Agricultural Science at the
University of Adelaide, graduating in 1952. Peter married Jean Petersen in early
1951.
Peter went back to PNG in 1956 to work for the Department of Agriculture, Stock
and Fisheries, being based at Bisianumu, Popondetta and Keravat. In 1960, Peter
and two others began a consulting company, Plantation Advisory Service, based
near Kokopo. In 1963, he took a position as assistant manager on Inus Plantation
on Bougainville. He rejoined DASF at the end of 1964 as agronomist-in-charge at
the Lowlands Agricultural Experiment Station (LAES) at Keravat, East New
Britain. Peter was based at LAES until 1975 when he worked for the UN Food and
Agriculture Organisation in Malaysia. He returned to PNG again in 1977, this
time as chief horticulturalist with Dept. of Primary Industry and was based in
Moresby for two years. Then Peter and Jean moved to Espiritu Santo Island in the
then New Hebrides where Peter worked for FAO. They returned to Australia in
1982, living in Warwick. Peter undertook further consultancies for the PNG
Department of Primary Industry, FAO and UNDP until 1988.
Peter is survived by his wife Jean, their five children (Jenny, Meg, Peter
Michael, Patrick and Veronica) and 11 grandchildren.
Mike Bourke (Una Voce - June 2003)
