Community
28 May, 2026
Passion and loyalty
TERANG’S John Keane has spent most of his 90 years volunteering for the community he loves, a path he followed in the footsteps of his father.
Mr Keane is among the volunteers who have been celebrated as part of National Volunteer Week, held last week from May 18-24, for the positive impact they have in transforming towns into communities.
Volunteering was always something which had inspired Mr Keane, feeling it was the perfect way to express how he was “passionate about and loyal to Terang”.
“I’ve been volunteering most of my life,” he said.
“I think at this point it’s part of my DNA.
“My old man, Lesley Morgan Keane, was a great community volunteer and I always thought it looked like the right thing to do.
“He was a pharmacist before me, so we were pharmacists, between us, for 70 years.
“I followed in suit.”
The inspiration served as a starting point for what has been decades of Mr Keane having his fingerprints all over projects and initiatives which have enhanced the town.
He has been a member of the Terang and District Lions Club since 1982, which included serving as president in 1984/1985 with 12 stints as secretary and six as treasurer.
In 1995 he was a driving force in the creation of the walking track which included planting around 1000 trees.
He helped organise a fundraiser in 1983 to help the community raise money to support the recovery from the Ash Wednesday fires.
Mr Keane has been a 20-year member of the park trustees, inaugural member of the committee to advance Terang’s aged care, the music festival, community art show, neighbourhood watch and is a 2017-2018 Corangamite Shire Citizen of the Year.
He was a board member of the Terang hospital, community grants committee and a former Hampden Shire councillor.
Mr Keane also helped to plan the Terang Squash Court, and used the same funding system to raise funds to help establish the Terang Sports Stadium.
He was the part of the push to erect the stone welcome signs on each side of town, in addition to the development of the turf cricket ground.
A point of pride for Mr Keane has been his 63 years as a volunteer for Meals on Wheels, an initiative he’s been part of since day one thanks to his father.
“My father and Mary Bradshaw started Meals on Wheels in 1963,” he said.
“I’ve been doing it from that day to this, so I’m now in my 63rd year – I’m actually delivering meals to people who are younger than I am.
“I’ve covered a whole generation of people.
“I still do it every couple of weeks because the Lions do it – it’s our business, so Mick (Lee) and I share the meals for the Lions because we’re not as busy.”
Mr Keane said his motivation has always stemmed from the adoration he has for the town.
“I’m just passionate about Terang, and I’m extremely loyal to it,” he said.
“All my life, I’ve bought the things I can buy in Terang – without fail.
“I think my community service comes out of that passion.
“I think I’ve done just about every bloody thing that can be done.
“I’ve been a shire councillor, on the hospital board, the May Noonan board, I organised the introduction of the squash courts and then the stadium, the walk track around the dry lake and planted most of the trees.”
Mr Keane said he hoped to see younger people get involved to leave their own mark on Terang, feeling they’re a lot more capable of creating change than they may think.
“From my experience, I’ve enjoyed everything I have done – it’s not as if I’m doing things I don’t enjoy just because it is something I should do,” he said.
“But I’d love to see some younger people jump out of the trees and follow in suit.
“I feel sometimes they think they haven’t got the ability to do certain things, but have a go.
“Terang is a great little town – within five minutes we’ve got a fantastic sporting facility, everything we’ve got is within five minutes of home, and where in Australia do you have a place like that?
“This place is incredible.”
Despite now being 90, Mr Keane has no plans of slowing down and is already eying another project to enhance the vibrancy of Terang.
He’s been a driving force behind a current project which is planning to re-establish the gardens at the Terang Railway Station.
“We’re negotiating it but the trouble is I can’t get V/Line to say I can proceed,” Mr Keane said.
“Corangamite Shire Council said they would give some soil and organise the design for the plants, but the only people I haven’t persuaded is V/Line.
“I’d also need some water because they’re new plants but I’m not sure if they’ve cut the water.
“It’s my next big project – I want to tee that up before I check out.”
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