Irvine Brown, a former Darwin Show Society secretary , nearing 50 years as an active mason and expert caller of the Bingo numbers at Evergreens meetings in recent years , died in RDH palliative care June 15, attended by daughters , Alison and Karen. The grocery trade brought him to Darwin in the 1950s ; "Brownie" was closely associated with many business men and women , shopkeepers and restauranteurs. In particular, he had fond memories of working for the late Sam Calvi , an Italian involved with Mick Paspalis . In those early days , Brownie, a reliable and conscientious worker, was in demand for carrying out end of financial year stocktakes. Others with whom he had many dealings were Richard and Alec Fong of the Victoria Hotel. Horse riding lawyer, George Cridland , known as " Cannonball" in his rugby league playing days, was one of the presidents when Brownie ran the Darwin Show Society.
In retirement, Brownie was often seen sitting on the back verandah , armed with a fly swat and the NT News race guide , listening to the races , while also playing patience with a pack of cards. He would have been 79 on Monday .
