63 years with the firm

Press, 26 July 1984, Page 1

63 years with the firm

Mr Harry Smith will probably have a party to celebrate his eightieth birthday on Tuesday—once he gets home from work. Mr Smith still puts in three days a week at Lane Neave Ronaldson and Company, formerly Lane Neave and Company, the law firm he began work for 63 years ago. His service was broken only by three years when he fought in World War 11. Surely 63 years seems a long time to work at the same company? “Far to bloody long,' actually,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “I had thought of changing, but I stayed, out of a misguided sense of loyalty I suppose.” On a more serious note, Mr Smith said he had been well treated during his long tenure at Lane Neave. “I have met a lot of good people, clients as well as staff. It is people that have made the job worth while.” Not surprisingly, Mr Smith has had a wide range of responsibilities in his time as a law clerk. Beginning by writing up cash books, he has dealt with trustees’ accounts, farm accounts, and income tax returns, among other duties.

He now spends most of his time checking completed files. How have things changed

in the office since 1921? “Things were completely relaxed then—you weren’t always chasing the clock,”

he said. “I call it a factory now; things have to be done in such a hurry.” Mr Smith remarried 31 years ago after his first wife died, and is now a very happily married octogenarian. Mr Smith has two children, a married daughter, aged 29, and a son, aged 25. An avid sports fan, Mr Smith played tennis for many years and is a stalwart supporter of the Shirley Rugby Club, of which he is a life member and patron—an • honour about which ‘he is self-effac-ing. Mr Smith served with the infantry in the Pacific between 1942 and 1945, an experience he considers himself lucky to have survived. That ordeal does not seem to have caught up on him, however. As sprightly as many men 20 years younger, Mr Smith does not plan on retiring just yet—the firm could not get by without him, he jokes. “Retiring? I’ve threatened to several times, but they don’t want ’me to go,” he said. “Besides, I’m not old enough to play bowls.”