Ivan the Painter
17 December, 2024
The annual visit from Bishop Michael during October was once again a special occasion for our small congregation at St Kevins Duaringa. Following the Christening of Hardy Tobin, the Bishop kindly gave a special blessing to Ivan the Painter, and presented him with a certificate of appreciation, recognizing Ivan’s contribution to the maintenance of St Kevin’s.
Ivan Pisotek originally from Slovenia, came to Australia in 1963 at the tender age of 19. Leaving his hometown during winter on the 9th December the journey came via Vienna, Frankfurt, Madrid, Karachi and Singapore finally arriving in Sydney, then he caught a train to Melbourne where his older brother was residing. Ivan stayed for a short while with his brother before moving into accommodation at the Slovanian Mission Church in Melbourne. Ivan said he did not know one word of our language on his arrival.
Ivan had been a builder by trade but on arrival here gained employment in various factories glass, plastic, stove, tyre and an engineering /welding works where he met a friend who had a painting business. He offered Ivan employment, so Ivan began painting in 1965. He travelled throughout Victoria with various painting contracts.
In 1971 an opportunity arose at Yeppoon for a painting contract. This led to another in Dingo. And as happens in small country places, news of his good workmanship soon spread and so the opportunity for work grew. In 1972 the Cattle Slump hit C.Q. Work soon dried up as belts were tightened in the rural sector. Ivan returned South.
In 1979, Ivan was up in the C.Q. area and was contacted once more by property owners in the Dingo district to paint and renovate their dwellings. From hereon, Ivan the Painter was a well-known and valued member of our communities.
With the building of the new St Kevin’s Catholic church in Duaringa in 1985, Ivan was contacted to see if he could fit into his busy schedule the necessary painting. Ivan not only painted the church for no fee but also donated the paint.
Once again, several years later St Kevin’s needed a bit of a paint touch up. Ivan came to the fore. This time he also repainted the statues in the church, giving them new life. Then in 2022, Ivan had sort of indicated retirement was inevitable, but he needed to repaint our loved church, fixing the guttering and other bits and pieces. This time Ivan had the help of a couple of the younger parishioners and he gave them lots of tips and interesting stories during the process.
We, at St Kevin’s Church, are grateful to Ivan for his generosity over the years. We wish him well in his retirement in Rockhampton and may our God bless him with good health.
