The Dumbrell family has tonight issued a statement confirming the death of Garry Dumbrell, 64, after a tragic accident at home.

To us he was always ‘Jack’. A nickname based on Jack Brabham, the fastest racing driver of our teenage times.
Garry Lakeland Dumbrell was the fastest young man of our teenage times in the 1970s.
He continued at speed in the decades that followed, in motor sports, in business, and in life.
He had defied the dangers of racetrack speed, big league business bastardry … and it was a household accident that finally claimed him.

We were a bunch of teenage boys, growing up together, chasing girls and our dreams. We all knew each other’s secrets, and those secrets were safe with a group of mates, who are still mates 50 years later.’
Jack’ was at secondary school at Ivanhoe, eagerly distributing the ‘Wynns’ motor product decals, from his family’s business.
He shared a healthy sense of humour, and was chief amongst the risk-takers that our generation encouraged and celebrated.

At school he was CUO (Cadet Under Officer). I was School Captain.
We shared the joke that I ran the Government, and that he ran the Military.’Jack’ would always reply, with a wink: “You weren’t much of a School Captain anyway.
“I’d like to think there was a mutual respect.

Life was an endless parade of parties, and ‘Jack’ was in the thick of it.
I am reminded of his party trick of standing on his head, and sculling pots of beer, without missing a beat.
He did that at my bucks’ party held at the Travelodge, Tullamarine Airport, in early 1978.
We held it there because it was on Federal Airport land, and we thought that eliminated any State Laws we might accidently breach.

After school years, ‘Jack’ was fast into the business world.
At age 19, he was leading his family’s Wynns product distributorship.It was commonplace for our mob to follow him competing in motor sports at places like Sandown and Bathurst.
He was soon to start the Allbrell’s Speed Shops, the forerunner of the Autobarn chain which helped build his fortunes.
For a short while, newly married and looking for extra income, I tried to start the Melauto parts and accessories business from our hume unit in Thornbury. I’d place the order, and Garry would drop off the goods in our home garage.

As the years progressed, Garry’s after-parties that followed our school reunions, were legendary.
He opened up his homes at Kew, Hawthorn and elsewhere, freely sharing his generous hospitality.He would ring me with calls like:
“How much would it cost to get Jimmy Barnes to entertain?” “How could we get Neil Diamond here?”
I recall trips out on the bay in various water craft.
On one late-night occasion, he phoned me, urging me to grab my passport and a bag, and we would be off to some exotic destination. I declined.

We were all genuinely interested in his family: wife Lisa, and the kids.
None of us needed to be impressed; none of us wanted him for his wealth, unlike many of the bottom feeders who inevitably circled him.

How do you keep track of the business juggernaut that was Garry Dumbrell.He was involved in so much: motor dealerships, other auto franchises, pubs, property investments and so much more.
As his mates, we simply wanted to share his company over a long lunch.
Garry moved into the world of millions of dollars, and tens of million of dollars. Sometimes all the deals were a fine shave for him.
One weekend he needed a quick million, and proposed the idea of contacting one thousand mates to each chip in a thousand. We would have.

As the years progressed, it wasn’t always easy to be his friend.
I’m proud to say that our mob always stayed true.Garry’s life increasingly became a bubble that was foreign to the rest of us. We lost large chunks of ‘Jack’.
It wasn’t easy for him either: he courageously battled cancer for more than 10 years. He battled a number of health problems.

I well recall him conducting a business board meeting at his Hawthorn home: he was hooked up to an intravenous drip, which he wheeled from room to room.

At one stage, he asked me to be a director of a charity foundation of his.
He said I would bring an honesty to it. He never raised the topic again, so neither did I.

In more recent years, we didn’t see a lot of Garry.He invited me to an oil company launch at his $20 million ‘Avon Court’ house in Shakespeare Grove, Hawthorn, with hundreds of other guests
.There would be occasional lunches in Richmond, Hawthorn and Kew, but the old ‘Jack’ had already gone into the next room.

Garry Dumbrell died after a horrible accident in the home.
Business-wise, I would imagine it will be a challenge for those who follow to reconcile so many balls in the air.
Family-wise, Garry’s death means a massive hole for those who he loved, and who loved him.His mates deliberately choose to remember the extraordinary good times.
As we wish ‘Godspeed’, we note the word ‘speed’.
If the saying “he who dies with the most toys wins” is true, Garry won by a country mile.
For us, we won by sharing the guy known as ‘Jack’. Farewell mate.