When David Park attended the GPS Gala Ball on March 28, he knew it would be his last dance at a club which had been a huge part of his life for more than 70 years.
His family had helped him dress in a tuxedo and slip out of hospital in a wheelchair, plus oxygen bottle just for that night.
A steady stream of old mates visited his table at the ball just as he had hoped for a final laugh and smile. He should have stayed for 30 minutes but he stayed for a few hours.
He was farewelled by a standing ovation from a room of 400 when he did depart. Less than 48 hours later, “Parky” slipped away at 79.
If you want a definition of “a true club man”, there you have it. Park had served the club from his earliest days as a ball boy in the late 1950s.
He went on to play more than 200 games for the club from first grade to fifths.
He followed in his father Ron’s footsteps by becoming Club President after time as Secretary, Treasurer and committee member.
If you wanted to know anything about GPS, “Parky” was a walking book of club history.
It’s why many will say he hung on to see the club’s proud history put into book form with the launch of The People Who Built GPS Rugby Club 1887-2025.
Authors Mark Oberhardt and Lloyd Graham have put together a glossy 364-page book that peers into every corner of the colourful GPS story.
As a premiership-winner for GPS, Graham was involved in many of the club’s finest exploits himself. Oberhardt was the perfect man to do the bulk of the writing as a club stalwart and journalist with an ear for the truth and also the inflated tales of every rugby club.
“I didn’t know so many at GPS had a touch of dementia,” was Oberhardt’s classic way of saying that so many stories had six versions depending on who you spoke to.
Away from the premierships, it is the characters he captures best.
Graham and Oberhardt tracked down the club’s oldest player, Alf Dalzell, at 100, before his passing last year.
Few will remember the South African forward who played for the club with the unusual habit of barking during games. At the end of one season, he was presented with a dog collar and registration papers from the Brisbane City Council.
The club’s first Australian captain, Bob McGowan, was a high flying partner in a law firm brought unstuck by a fraud scandal and a losing bet on Phar Lap in the Melbourne Cup.
Graham feels a great sense of satisfaction that the club that means so much to him now has a bigger story to tell to others.
“’Parky’ was the first to read the finished book. He held on to make it to the book launch and the Gala Ball,” Graham said.
“It was amazing…he got into his black tie in hospital and made the function.
“There wasn’t a thing he didn’t do at the club over his lifetime.”
Fittingly, GPS will open their season in the Sumo Energy Hospital Cup on Saturday at Yoku Road with a match against old foes Brothers.
“Parky” will be looking down on the action from somewhere.
The history of GPS Rugby Club book is available from the club for $100 or by emailing the club website.
