There were two paths that Colin followed, each having a lasting impact on the public good. The first revolved around his long association with Gretchen Wheen, a visionary for Australia’s beekeepers. The second emerged from the central role that Colin played in establishing the Wheen Bee Foundation.

Colin, a well experienced Chartered Accountant (since 1974) in the public, private and “not for profit” sectors, was also Gretchen’s personal accountant and financial advisor for many years. Gretchen was a pioneering leader in the commercial beekeeping world with a deep understanding and commitment to pollination services and food security. Gretchen largely left her worldly affairs in the trusted hands of Colin. The fact that Gretchen could devote her boundless energies to helping the beekeeping industry was due in no small measure to Colin. Quietly in the background, Colin kept Gretchen’s ‘business interests’ securely and responsibly tethered somewhere near terra firma.

Colin and Gretchen also forged a professional relationship around bees and horticulture. This partnership was reinforced when Colin, while earning an Advanced Diploma in Horticulture in 1995 through Sydney University, completed his final year project on Horticultural Management on Gretchen Wheen‘s pecan farm in Richmond, NSW.

When Gretchen eventually turned her attention to how her estate might best be used to continue her good work, Colin was well placed to understand Gretchen’s wishes, and to ensure they would be implemented. Gretchen appointed Colin, along with two long term friends with strong connections to the beekeeping industry, namely Linton Briggs and Max Whitten, as executers of her estate. Together, with a team of lawyers, working pro bono, Gretchen’s will was crafted to reflect her altruistic wishes. But the group went further with an action plan. The team established the Wheen Bee Foundation so that Gretchen could enjoy her final 3 years participating in the work of the Foundation. It gave Gretchen, and Colin, special joy when the youthful dynamic Jodie Goldsworthy joined the Board as a founding director. Jonathan Livingston Seagull comes to mind.

It would be hard to overstate the importance of the role Colin played in establishing and registering the Foundation as a charity, fine tuning its two separate Constitutions, and securing deductible gift recipient (DGR) status on favourable terms with the ATO. Indeed, it was only in recent months that the Board’s CEO, Fiona Chambers, sought Colin’s advice when yet a third Constitution was required to broaden the base for donations. Colin was well placed to negotiate with the State Government compensation as portions of Gretchen’s farm was impacted by road upgrades. These negotiation skills were important in securing the financial stability of the Foundation in its infant days.

While Colin took special interest in financial reporting, taxation matters and managing Gretchen’s farm, it would be fair to say that Colin always adopted a measured approach to the dreams and the ‘courageous’ aspirations of his fellow directors, Gretchen, Linton, Max and Jodie. Always positive, genial and thoughtful, Colin’s influence was reflected in all our decisions.

By 2017, with the Board strengthened by the recruitment of additional outstanding Directors, and the Foundation on a secure footing, Colin, after eight years of loyal and generous service, quietly took a back seat. He simply remained a member of the Foundation but ever ready to offer advice when approached. Time had come to devote more attention to his hobby orchard and family.

As Chairman, I always felt with Colin in the team, that the Foundation was in safe hands. And as we grew from our humble beginnings in 2009 to warrant the international Golden Bee Award from the Slovenian Government in 2024 for furthering beekeeping and pollination services, Colin was chuffed to realise his years of effort supporting Gretchen and in shaping the Wheen Bee Foundation was time well spent.

In 2024, I retired from the Board and joined Colin in the back seat. But Colin, sadly and too soon, has gone to join Gretchen who departed in 2012 and Linton in 2020, both having clocked nine productive decades of tireless public service.

Rest in Peace, fine friend

Max Whitten AM FAA.

Founding Chairman, Wheen Bee Foundation