For Bob Reilly, a resident of The Pines Retirement Living, life has always been about working towards an objective.
Whether it was during his twelve years in the military or his time as a consultant in the United States, Bob has always been driven by a clear sense of direction.
After being told he was “dumb and stupid” at school, Bob joined the army and was immediately encouraged to pursue his education.
“All of a sudden I found out I could do education and I was in my 30s before I matriculated,” he said.
“In the military you have to have a sense of purpose, it’s teamwork, it’s completing a task, identifying a task, looking to what’s the end of the task going to be and then working to achieve the end of that task and that’s driven me all the way through.”
“The military obviously gave me what I am today.”
It also gave him the opportunity to meet his wife Elizabeth, who was working in an administrative role for the army when Bob returned from the Vietnam War.
They both worked on a project computerising the accounting system for the Medical, Dental and Veterinary Supply Depot, and discovered they had both grown up around Adelaide.
Bob said, “At Christmas time I brought back a dinner set for her, dropped it off and 12 months later we carried it back as husband and wife.”
Bob’s next career move was to leave the army in order to spend more time with his family, including their three boys, and he became the Superintendent for Fire Safety, Security, Environmental for the refinery at Mobil Oil for a time.
He then began his career in risk management consultancy, which took the family to different parts of Australia and the US.
Eventually a job at Adelaide University brought them back to South Australia, although one of their sons remained living in the US.
Although purpose had never been difficult for Bob to find before, upon his retirement he said he struggled with finding a new objective.
“My whole working life it’s been getting up every morning with an objective to achieve something and all of a sudden you’ve got nothing,” Bob said.
“So you paint the house, travel a lot…just keep yourself busy and take on something as a project.”
When Bob and Elizabeth moved into The Pines, they decided their approach would be to get involved in the community.
Bob noticed the Men’s Shed was not in use, so he stepped in to get things moving.
He also joined the Residents’ Committee, is currently the Secretary, and continues to volunteer to drive the village’s buggy.
“Whatever I’ve been involved in is to achieve an outcome,” Bob explained.
He is also a member of the RSL and takes on the responsibility of organising the village’s ANZAC Day service for his fellow residents each year.
Bob and Elizabeth also keep busy these days by visiting their two sons who live in Adelaide, and watching their two grandsons play sports.
