Dean's Australia Day Honour

Posted in News

Dean Kerley, a Loxton resident and active member of the Loxton Uniting Church has been recognised for his service to the Loxton Waikerie district in the Australia Day 2023 Honours List.

Dean was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his service to the community across sport, education, local government and volunteering.

He has been the chairman of the Loxton Community Men’s Shed since 2013, the co-zone leader of the Loxton Neighbourhood Watch, a volunteer of Loxton High School Breakfast Club and has been a Justice of the Peace since the 1990s.

‘It’s an honour to have been awarded an OAM but I am still the same person, nothing has really changed,’ Dean said.

‘I have always been involved in the community in different ways; I am just a hands-on working person in the community. Wherever I have lived I have always taken an active interest in it. Volunteering is one way to meet different people and I have always said the way to meet people when you move around is to get involved in something in that town.’

Dean has been the recipient of other awards highlighting his commitment to his community over the years, including the Loxton Waikerie Council Citizen of the Year in 2016; two Mail Medals as a player in the Brown’s Well Football Club; a National Medal from the CFS in 2014; and a 30-year service medal in 2019, after serving as a volunteer with the CFS since 1989.

‘I finally stepped back after 30-odd years but my knowledge of the area as a farmer definitely helped with the CFS,’ said Dean.

(Adapted from an article in the Murray Pioneer on 1st February 2023, by Alexandra Bull)

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