News

Brenton Stacey
Public relations officer

Avondale College staff members and students have paid tribute to their friend, Charles Pointon, 98, who died from injuries sustained in a road accident on Sunday (November 9).

The former Avondale student--as recently as 2006--Charles continued to serve as general secretary of COSMOS, which he pioneered 30 years ago. The student club has raised $140,000 for mission work, mostly in India and the Pacific islands. On the day he died, Charles had been selling his autobiography, A Friend in High Places, at Heritage Day in Cooranbong to raise money for COSMOS.

"Charles is famous," says Brad Watson, a lecturer in international development studies at Avondale and the staff advisor for COSMOS. "Most students know him as the man who sits patiently in the cafeteria with a sign asking for donations. Newer students know him as the man on the orange scooter. Others know him as a man with a heart for poor children. And just about anyone who meets Charles knows of his passion for COSMOS."

At 74, Charles sought sponsorship for COSMOS to walk the 50 kilometres from Cooranbong to Newcastle. At 91, he walked halfway. "Helping others is important," Charles told Brad in 2006. "The world is full of those in need and it gives me great joy to spend the money for their good, rather than for mine." At the time, Charles described COSMOS as his "greatest accomplishment."

"We're proud of Charles's commitment to helping needy people," says Avondale president Dr John Cox. "I would like to express my personal appreciation of his fundraising work, which has earned him the admiration and respect of the entire Avondale community."

Born in London in 1910, Charles survived the Blitz during World War II and migrated to Australia in 1969 after the death of his wife. He became a Seventh-day Adventist in 1937, attributing his longevity to the church's health message--Charles adhered to a vegetarian diet for more than 70 years, abstained from alcohol and tobacco and walked up to 15 kilometres a day well into his 90s. Staff members and students at Avondale raised the money to buy him his electric scooter, not so much because he needed it, but because he made them feel guilty.

"Charles typified the saying, 'The purpose of life is a life of purpose,'" says Dr Darren Morton, a senior lecturer in health and exercise at Avondale. "The world is full of people who know what to do but do not do what they know. Charles was an exception."

"No matter how he was feeling, he'd always say he had nothing to complain about," says COSMOS president Verity Pasione.

Student Justin Fraser presented Charles, on his birthday, with a book of congratulatory messages from staff members and students during the weekly forum on Avondale's Lake Macquarie campus. "His dedication and passion for serving God by serving others will remain in my mind long after I leave college," says Justin, leader of Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church's service-based Tools ministry. "It is my prayer that his passing will do more than cause us to pause in sadness, but also to reflect upon our own lives and to really think about what we are doing and why we are doing it."

"Charles has lived an amazing life," says campus chaplain Dr Wayne French. "When you think about the number of lives he's helped change for the better, it's incredible. I'm proud I knew him."

Wayne invites you to write a message about Charles and his legacy to include in a book of memories. Email your message to Wayne (wayne.french@avondale.edu.au) or deliver it in person to Wayne's office in College Hall.

Brad is also inviting you to contribute to a collection of photographs. Email your photographs of Charles to Faculty of Arts secretary Tereena Tew (tereena.tew@avondale.edu.au).

Credit: Kent Marcus Photography

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