Tom Wheatley: Diamond Member
Gentleman Tom by Ann Ohlsen
Tom was born in Bridgetown on 21/05/1932.
Christmas 1948 he started playing bridge with some Uni students who came to the farm to help in the dairy. One of them, Ian Hislop taught them the game and for the next 6 weeks that’s what they did . It was enough for Tom to become addicted, so to keep learning he read David Schokman’s column in the Saturday West Australian. Those articles were all he read. He has never read a bridge book.
In 1954 he married Mary and taught her to play and for several years they played against his parents.
He was asked to teach in the evenings at the Bridgetown High School but only one couple turned up, so he told them to find another couple and he would teach them one evening a week for twelve months at no charge. The following year he took on another foursome and for several years this is what he did.
Eventually, they formed a club and met once a week. A player from Sydney taught Tom how to score and direct. A highlight for the club was when Nigel Dutton and five other players from Perth came down, stayed the night at Tom and Mary’s home ‘Orange Grove’ and persuaded the club to join the Federation.
Sadly, in 1997 Mary passed away, so Tom moved to Bunbury and played bridge there for the next eighteen months. Tom next moved to Perth to look after a friend’s house, started playing bridge here and we have reaped the benefits of that move ever since. Tom says that his heart is in the country but his bridge is in Perth.
The two metropolitan clubs that have reaped the benefits of Tom’s move to Perth are W.A.B.C. and Nedlands. If there was any plumbing or repairs that needed to be done, Tom was your man to call on and the job would be handled quickly and efficiently. When the morning sessions of supervised bridge was started, there was Tom to quietly help with the classes. He has only recently stopped going to those sessions as at age ninety, he was finding it too tiring to be on his feet all morning and then play all afternoon.
Tom first learnt Culbertson then Goren and finally finishing with Acol and that is what he still plays now. He started earning master points in Bunbury 1999 and by 2012 was a gold life master. He is a life member of the Bridgetown Bridge Club. In 2018 he was awarded a 1000 point club membership certificate.
I have never heard a rude word or a complaint or moan come from Tom’s lips. He is the epitome of what a ‘Gentleman’ is. In his words, he stopped playing State Bridge or Congresses because there was too much unpleasantness at the table and his age, he didn’t want to hear it.
Tom and Mary had two boys and one girl but none of them play bridge!
In 1999 he and his partner came 5th in the Australia Wide Novice Pairs with 74% for which they won several bridge books which he gave away.
Tom Wheatley by Marion Jefferson
One of Tom’s favourite sayings when asked how he is “Every day is a bonus but I wouldn’t buy green bananas”. I
have been playing with Tom for over 20 years – he is always pleasant and never complains or criticses.
We regularly went to country congresses, Esperance, Bunbury and Albany, Tom always drove while the three of us usually me, Elizabeth Ross and Cynthia Matthews chatted endlessly while Tom drove, politely not saying a word. We usually came home with prizes which Tom still remembers with joy!
Whatever club he joins he is always repairing, buying alcohol, fixing things et al – Fremantle, WABC and Nedlands. He is valued at all the clubs.
He had some older Bridge partners who he would pick up from their nursing home and deliver them home again every week. At WABC where Tom aged 90 requires a sitting position (because of his lungs damaged by spraying Dieldrin and Agent Orange) if he sees the Director on his own he is on his feet to help hand out the boards and table numbers. In his younger days when we could have a cuppa at the table he was always getting cuppas for many of the older players at the clubs.
Tom Wheatley by Ken Todd
A friend and bridge partner for 20 plus years and lucky enough to be invited to his 90th birthday last year. As a bridge player Tom is relaxed and wellmannered at the table and plays excellent bridge. We have our occasional misunderstandings but he is very tolerant and never makes any fuss over some of my irresponsible bids.
In the earlier days we went fishing – Tom is as keen a fisherman as he is with his bridge. I was also lucky enough to be invited to his family home in Bridgetown. You will no doubt know that this town is a Wheatley enclave – with his father and grandfather being very early settlers. The Bridgetown Museum is full of Wheatley memorabilia and farming antiques.
I have certainly been fortunate to play with Tom and I look forward to playing with him for many years to come and I know that he will play with the same enthusiasm and good manners at the table. “And so say all of us at NBC!”
