Gilbert Marsh was a well-known Club member who died on 22 June last year.

Born in England in November 1925, he came to Australia with his farming family when he was three years old. Despite some tough times, in 1946 Gilbert managed to graduate from UWA. In 1957 he was appointed to the position of Bridge Engineer at the Main Roads Department. During his time with the Main Roads Department Gilbert became a very highly regarded engineer with a national and international reputation.

After he retired, Gilbert developed an interest in botany, especially after he started going out in the field with Daphne Edinger, who was an old friend of his and fellow naturalist. He worked as a volunteer at the Herbarium and started going on field trips to remote regions of WA to survey and collect native plants. He did this until he was in his late 80s, only a few months before he died.

Gilbert was a member of the WA Naturalists’ Club for many years. He served as Club Treasurer from 1996 until 2002. He was involved in a number of long-range excursions, and led an excursion to Lakeside Station in 2012. Kevin Coate remembers the time on an LRX reconnaissance trip when Gilbert inadvertently backed his vehicle over Daphne’s favourite billy, flattening it. According to Kevin, “For a while it seemed as if World War Three had erupted.” Gilbert will be greatly missed by his friends in the Nats Club.

Mike Gregson