Irwin Tasman Lewis (1953-56) was an outstanding legend honoured by the OBA in 2017. Irwin passed away peacefully in the last week of January surrounded by his family in Morawa, the town where he was born on 21 April 1939 into a family of 8 children.

He was a proud Yamatji man who by virtue of his own performance in life saw it as his responsibility to inspire his indigenous people to confidently establish a standard that would enable them to deal with the adversity that confronted them.  For him it all began when he accepted a scholarship to attend CCGS.  He was a mature 14 year old in Year 9 unaware that he was attempting to transcend his indigenous culture into a culture that he was not familiar with.  It was shades of sending a boy on a mans errand!  Sadly we didn’t get to acknowledge his effort publicly.

He was an outstanding leader of his people and while he would admit to having sustained the mood and kept things moving, he would nevertheless tell you that we all still have a long road ahead of us.  And so he passed the baton to the young leaders of the next generation.

In all his pursuits Irwin succeeded by concentrating on his many talents and using them to advantage.  He became the first indigenous student at a prestigious private school.  He was the first indigenous alumnus of UWA and St George’s College.  His playing days at the Claremont Football Club (1958-65) included a WAFL Premiership in 1964.

At the age of 19 he was chosen to represent Australia at a Moral Rearmament Conference in the USA.

In his early twenties he joined the public service and rose to become one of Australia’s leading public servants in the areas of indigenous welfare and development.

His marriage to Lorna resulted in 4 children, Clayton (1976-77), Cameron (1977-79), Carolyn and Christopher (1984-86),  Grandsons Lucas and Calen and Great Grandson Irwin.

In 1989 Irwin opted for early retirement and took up art as a full-time occupation.  Over the next twenty years he became one of WA’s most prolific indigenous artists.

In celebrating the life of this CCGS Legend we acknowledge that this amazing story of the Lewis family continues through his grandson Irwin Lewis who will be in Year 10 this year and undoubtedly another outstanding contributor to our school.

VALE - Irwin Tasman Lewis (1939-56)
Artwork supplied by Paul Drok