Frank Jarvis's funeral notice read: "Now arguing with God." For anyone who knew him -- and everyone seemed to know Frank -- they would recognise the truth in these words. Frank wouldn't be happy unless he was engaging in a debate with somebody, and who better for this indomitable character to take on than the most challenging adversary of all? Anyone who met Frank never forgot him, and would in all probability have a funny story to tell about him. He was one of those unique individuals who made an impact, and while he didn't suffer fools gladly, he was immensely popular within the USQ community and throughout Toowoomba. Born in Harpenden, England in 1936, - Franklin Huddleston Jarvis and his sister Ann were raised in a household where individuality and freedom of ex- pression were encouraged. Frank received his secondary education at Rugby, a leading public school, before going up to Cambridge to study law. Although he graduated with Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees, Frank was never inspired to enter into the legal profession. He was probably prouder of other achievements from his time as an under-graduate -- being awarded a Cambridge Blue for beating Oxford three years running in Bridge, playing in the English Bridge team against the United States, playing with Bing Crosby in the Italian Open Golf Championship, and making wildlife films in Kenya, Africa. Frank was a man of many interests, including golf, cricket, fishing, back- gammon, and cryptic crosswords, and for three years was the President of the Toowoomba Art Society. Nothing fired his imagination however quite like computers. Computing tech- nology was in its very early infancy when Frank discovered it during his uni- versity days, but he knew immediately that this was where his future lay. Upon graduation, Frank accepted a position working in Australia for the Department of Defence in the computer industry, and arrived in the country he would one day call home in 1965. It was during his early years in Australia that Frank met Pat at a Bridge Congress, and married her in 1969. Although Frank had won the Australian Pairs Championship in Bridge in 1967, he and Pat didn't play the game together very often -- the ensuing arguments did not bode well for a harmonious marriage! Frank maintained - a close relationship with Pat's sons Graeme and Rod, and the following 32 years were happy ones for the family. In 1971, the Jarvis's moved to Toowoomba, and Frank started work as a lecturer in computing studies at the Toowoomba Institute of Technology (now the University of Southern Queensland). He was present when the first com- puter was installed at the Institute in - 1972 - a piece of equipment that filled a room. It was in teaching that Frank recognised his true calling in life - he was a born teacher, intellectually rigorous, passionate and honest. Students loved Frank, and he will represent for many of them the highlight of their university experience. When Frank retired from USQ in 1999, he was a Senior Lecturer with the Faculty of Business. He loved his job, but was never driven by ambition. For Frank, life was full of too many other pleasures to slave over a desk. He was the founding member in 1981 of the "Saturday Club", a group of friends who would meet weekly to talk over a drink and a bowl of chips. The art of conversation was one at which Frank was a master, and while the Saturday Club won't be lost for words, his input will be sorely missed. The University of Southern Queensland paid tribute to Frank's work in the field of computers with the unveiling in March this year of the "Frank Jarvis Network Laboratory". It was a fitting honour for a man who helped pioneer the early days of computing technology in Australia. Yet Frank's greatest legacy will lie in the stories his friends will tell of his life -- the humorous, the outrageous, and the ones that are "just Frank". His exploits will be relived, and this larger-than-life man will be fondly remembered by a community in which he was everyone's favourite character. - printed in "The Chronicle", Toowoomba, Saturday 23rd June 2001.
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