A good dad
Obituaries
Graham George Spurling, who died in March 2025, had a respect for the dignity of ordinary hardworking people that had its roots in his humble Mile End, Adelaide, upbringing.
Graham Spurling was remembered as a manufacturing industry leader with a deep respect for the dignity of workers, a devoted family man and a faithful servant of the Church at his funeral Mass at St Joseph’s Church, Brighton.
Graham grew up in Mile End with his brothers Peter and Bill and was educated by Marist Brothers at Thebarton and then Sacred Heart College (SHC), Somerton Park. Graham’s mother Mary was the major influence on Graham and his brothers.
Graham once described Mile End as a suburb that “slid down from the West End” along with its ‘wonderfully colourful and generous characters’.
He was also strongly influenced by his Labor-voting maternal grandfather who had an “abiding hate” for the Protestant Black and Tans of Ireland.
His education by the Marist Brothers was hugely important to him and he remained a strong supporter of Sacred Heart College his whole life. That spilled over to the Old Collegians Football Club of which he was a popular supporter on the boundary and financially.
When Graham left school he worked at the SA Harbors Board and began studying engineering at university. In 1959, during his final year of university, Graham saw an advert for a Chrysler scholarship to complete his Masters in Detroit, USA, and was accepted.
By this stage the 21-year-old Graham had started dating Peggy Ryan, also a young Catholic from the western suburbs, and on July 23 1960 they were married in Sacred Heart College Chapel. After a one-day honeymoon at the Brighton Esplanade Hotel they headed off to the USA.
Their first few nights in Detroit were spent sleeping on a wall bed with no mattress, pillow or blankets in an unfurnished apartment. They relied heavily on the kindness and generosity of the locals who delved into the basement of the apartment building to find them furniture and other essentials.
In 1962 their first son Tom was born and six months later the family returned to Australia where Tom was joined by Michael, Cate, Jane and Anna.
Graham was awarded an Order of Australia by the Queen for his services to the Australian manufacturing industry. In the 1980s he, along with Senator John Button, crafted a strategy with the goal of nurturing the Australian car industry into the era of globalisation. Graham was acutely aware of the role of manufacturing in Australia and particularly South Australia. He would rail against East Coast politicians who felt that it was OK to let manufacturing die.
Graham’s passion for manufacturing was based on his strong views on the importance of ordinary working people who make it happen; the assembly line people, the product designers, the quality people, the accountants and the sales teams. Commencing work for Chrysler in Detroit in 1960 he saw first-hand the golden age of USA industry and the mostly immigrant workers, Poles and Italians, who made it happen.
His respect for the dignity of ordinary hardworking people, a respect that had its roots in his humble Mile End upbringing, was born and nurtured in Detroit. This would serve as a guiding management principle throughout his life. As recently as 2013, in an article for the Financial Review he wrote: ‘The necessity for humankind to work and gain satisfaction and dignity from work must be the driving force. New and greater opportunities will unfold’.
Graham and Peggy spent another 10 years in the USA while Graham led GNB, a battery manufacturer owned by Pacific Dunlop. Eventually they returned to Australia to various board positions and charity work and also established the Bundaleer vineyard near Jamestown with good friend Des Meaney.
Graham was deeply spiritual, a devout Catholic and actively involved in the Brighton parish. Following their return to Australia in early 2000 Graham was also heavily engaged in work for the Archdiocese. He offered his services to Archbishop Wilson and with the help of his great friend Monsignor David Cappo they pushed hard and established what we now know as the SA Water Building as the major income producing asset for the Archdiocese. He received a Papal Knighthood for this work.
An award from the Queen and an award from the Pope, not a bad effort for a working-class man from Mile End.
Graham was a member of the Army Reserve for 20 years, a voluntary role he loved and led him to an obsession with polishing shoes.
Most recently Graham volunteered at Calvary Oaklands where he visited the sick and dispensed communion. He told his family it was ‘the best job I’ve ever had’ and he insisted on going there himself when his health failed. The staff made a guard of honour for him when he was wheeled in, such was their respect for him. Graham was also a great support to international priests, a number of whom attended his funeral Mass.
In addition to his five children, Graham was much loved and adored by his 15 grandchildren and, so far, five great grandchildren. Along with those numbers, of course, come a host of loved and loving in-laws. This big family was very important to Graham, hence all names were mentioned in his funeral notice.
Graham and Peggy were married for 65 years. Graham’s love for Peggy and vice versa was clearly evident over the four months of his illness.
He was a great dad. He would bring home a procession of new Chrysler cars, the first Charger, all so exciting in the 1970s. He supported his children’s activities including by umpiring football games at SHC for many winters, even bouncing the ball at every stoppage. If any person on the boundary criticised the decisions, he stopped the game and offered them the whistle.
Graham was a man who had vison, who respected the dignity of work, who knew the importance of a spiritual life, who loved Peggy and who was very proud of his family. He was definitely a good dad.
As Monsignor Cappo said in a letter to the Spurling family, Graham made the world a better place for his presence.
– Taken from the eulogy by Tom Spurling and The Southern Cross (August 2020, Same but different makes for happy marriage)
