Jenan Taylor
30 January 2023
An Anglican chaplain has been posthumously honoured in the Australia Day Honours List.
The contributions of the late Reverend Roger Williams spanning more than 35 years were recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to secondary education.
The beneficiaries of Mr Williams’ service included Melbourne Grammar, Sandringham Secondary College, and Mentone Grammar where he was chaplain from 1998 to 2014.
“The Rev” as he was affectionately known by staff and students at Mentone Grammar taught Religious Education and English, and coached football, along with delivering pastoral care.
Read more: ‘Rewarding’ work recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours list
But Mr Williams’ work coordinating student trips to the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea from 1984 to 2019 was also mentioned on the citation.
Described as outstanding by Mentone Grammar, the journeys Mr Williams led were arranged to provide students with generous and lasting insights into the local culture, and of the service of the Australian Diggers in 1942.
Writing in The Age in 2021, former Mentone Grammar principal Neville Clark said Mr Williams exemplified a “practical demonstration of the Christian values by which he lived and encouraged students to adopt, although always in the most gentle, self-effacing and understated manner.”
Anglican parishioner and consultant physician Dr Mark Stephens was also awarded with an OAM on Australia Day.
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