Vale Curly, your generous heart beats on

Lawrence Money

The Age, September 16, 2010

EUGENE ”Curly” Veith, the humble Melbourne tycoon who gave away $23 million to help others, had hoped to live to 100.

”Every five years, I ask God for another five years to continue my work,” he said in April, when his remarkable story appeared on the front page of The Age.

Mr Veith turned 95 two weeks ago, but this year it seems the Lord decided to call him home – he died last weekend and will be buried today.

”He was very frail in the end,” says Margaret Scott-Pross, a friend at Templestowe Orchards Retirement Village where Mr Veith would beetle around in a shiny red mobility scooter.

”He had been ill for a couple of months. He came back from Ringwood hospital once but had to be re-admitted.”

Mr Veith – a self-proclaimed no-hoper who went on to build Melbourne’s biggest parcel-delivery company, Veith Transport – dubbed himself Curly as a young man after going bald through alopecia. Back then he was uneducated, shy, had a bad stammer and had facial scarring after a childhood accident – but his simple honesty won people over.

From one small seven-horsepower baby Austin from his father’s failed butchery business, Curly built up a fleet of 175 trucks.

After helping his missionary brother Walter with finance for his work in India, Curly set up Mission Enterprises Limited (MEL) to channel funds to other worthy causes.

He found them everywhere – from native Americans in Colorado to street kids in Bangkok.

After Curly sold his business to Mayne Nickless in 1986, he gave most of the proceeds to MEL, which will continue funding worthwhile projects. MEL recently set up a new arm called Entrust to ”challenge rich businessmen to help”.

Curly’s wife Ruth died in 1989 after a 49-year marriage that produced four children and four years ago he moved in to the Templestowe retirement village. Margaret Scott-Pross said he would have dinner on Sundays, the village’s casual-meals day, at a table with 13 women.

”He called us his 13 wives,” said Margaret, the youngest ”wife” at 79.

”We had been eating in our rooms on Sundays, just soup and sandwiches, but one lady felt lonely so we all decided to take our meals into the dining room from then on. Eugene would always kiss the hand of the oldest, Jean McCarthy, when he arrived. Jean is now 102. We will all miss him dreadfully.”

Curly, a Christian from the age of 16, grew up on a farm in the Strzelecki Ranges. His father, Charles, had gone broke running the farm so moved to Melbourne and opened a butcher’s shop. ”Dad went broke again during the Depression,” said Curly, ”because he kept giving the meat away.”

MEL this week published a death notice calling Curly a ”gracious man with an amazingly selfless, generous heart. He was greatly respected in business and loved by all he met.”

Eugene Lincoln Napoleon Veith will be buried at 10.30am at Andersons Creek cemetery, Warrandyte. The thanksgiving service at Kew Baptist Church will be held afterwards at 2pm without a coffin.

Even in death, Curly did not like being the centre of attention.

Note from Rowland: Eugene Veith was a good friend, an honest client (we walked in depth about some important personal issues from time to time) and a generous benefactor of John Mark Ministries. We last met at Templestowe Orchards Village where I spoke at their devotions. (Mission Enterprises donated the seed-money to get this family of websites – including Priscillas’ Friends – going). His daughter Adele was my PA/secretary for several years – and a very thorough manager of John Mark Ministries’ correspondence etc.