Kenneth Raymond Thurston

1937 – Present

🌏 Early Life

Born in Montreal, Canada on 24 October 1937, Kenneth migrated to Australia at the age of five with his parents. After their separation, he was raised by his maternal grandparents on a dairy farm in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales.

🔧 Engineering Beginnings

Kenneth began his career as an apprentice diesel mechanic with Caterpillar in Victoria. His work took him across Australia and New Zealand, contributing to major infrastructure projects including the Snowy River Scheme, Deep Cove, and the Tongariro Project. He later spent 16 weeks in Peoria, Illinois at the Caterpillar factory, gaining firsthand experience with road transport applications of Cat engines.

🚛 Innovation & Education

Returning to Australia, Kenneth joined a pioneering team fitting a Cat V8 engine into a Leader truck—an innovation that entered service with Brambles Manford in Western Australia. Recognizing the need for further qualifications, he pursued engineering studies as a mature-aged student.

💔 Family & Resilience

While working in New Zealand, Kenneth met his wife. They married and had a daughter, followed two years later by twins—a boy and a girl. Tragedy struck when his wife and eldest daughter were killed in a motor accident. As a single father, Kenneth faced a welfare system that did not support fathers raising children. He fought tirelessly to retain custody.

🌴 Career Abroad

Kenneth left Caterpillar and accepted a role with Brambles in Papua New Guinea, where he could bring his children, hire a nanny, and continue his studies. He later returned to Australia, serving in various divisions of the Brambles group for a decade before moving into senior engineering and maintenance roles with the TNT group—including a posting in France.

✈️ Pacific Rim Specialist

Kenneth’s final professional chapter was with a major oil company as a product support engineer specializing in aircraft refuelling—a role that took him across the Pacific Rim.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Legacy

Kenneth is now retired and divides his time between Australia and the Philippines. He is a proud grandfather to five grandchildren and great-grandfather to three.