Site Tribute
COLWELL, Trevor - Passed away September 9, 1999. On behalf of all members of ACBRO, we sadly say goodbye to a man who has done a lot over the years for all radio operators in Australia. Thanks Trev - You will always be remembered as MR. CB RADIO. You will be greatly missed. We extend our condolences to his family.
WAYNE, ACBRO 11 (Adelaide) REMEMBERS TREVOR:It is indeed very sad to announce to our members that Trevor Cowell, our secretary - treasurer and magazine editor passed away on the ninth of September suddenly at home. Trevor had a peaceful death. He just passed away in his sleep in the early morning.
Looking back over the years, Trevor was not only for the past 12 years 'Mr ACBRO", but he was "Mr CB" in Australia. If the Federal Government wanted some advice on CB matters, they would ring or write to Trevor, as ACBRO is now probably the only such organisation that is still in operation to help CB operators in Australia.
Over the last 12 years of Trevor' s life he lived for ACBRO. Just to name some of the many tasks he took upon himself were: organising picnics and various country gatherings to not only promote ACBRO but to generally get the chance to meet country people but to listen and help with their problems and grievances.
Trevor was very proud of that and often was heard talking about his greatest achievement which was the establishment of the Class Licencing System and the doing away with licences. But there were so many other things Trevor did in Adelaide over the years to help the CB community. He worked with the Coast Guard and helped to establish Repeater 2 and later helped ACBRO to also establish Repeater 3 at Glenelg in SA. Both 2 and 3 are very much in operation today. Repeater 3 is owned and run by ACBRO exclusively for the CB community in SA.
Trevor also ran a weekly broadcast in the old days on 27 megs and later for many years on UHF called "Tuesday Night with Trevor". He would start with news and notes on ACBRO and follow up with a talkback type to inform the listeners on whatever was going on in CB land and the show was usually controversial but never boring.
Trevor had a knack of making everyone feel important and although he was sometimes abused and attacked on air by some people who looked on him as an authority figure, he never once lost his temper, always carried on and never paid them any attention.
Once, Trevor and I went out at night tracking a music man. We went up to where we thought he lived and sat outside his house. Well, the chap was on air abusing everyone. After a while Trevor and I knocked on his door. A very embarrassed young man tried to deny that he was the one, but Trevor had a shock for him. You see, the man had a German Shepherd and we could hear the dog barking in the background at his house. The dog's bark, Trevor explained to him, was in "stereo", it was heard with the music that was being played on the air. But Trevor kept he cool and from memory we had no more trouble with this young man.
At Trevor's funeral they said that all through his life he had a love for communications. Just recently going through the many ACBRO files, I came across a document that Trevor wrote when he wanted a position on the ACBRO committee as President. Like a politician he promised and spelled out in fine detail all the following:
Responsible decision making,
Financial management,
Committee guidelines,
Understanding the Constitution,
Prompt organisation and
Half yearly reports.
I think he easily managed to achieve all of these promises that he took very seriously. Unlike people in politics, he also left ACBRO with a healthy bank account.
We at ACBRO have only one complaint with Trevor. He forgot to say goodbye.
(October 9, 1999 Adelaide)