Mark leaves a legacy for Bourke
Not everyone can close the final chapter on their career knowing their work will still be standing a century later, but that’s the case for Bourke Shire Council former Roads Manager Mark Gordon.
Mark is winding up his long service leave and about to step into retirement, and although not official yet, he said he had ‘left the building’.
But that doesn’t mean he has closed the door on his beloved town of Bourke.
Mark and his wife Sandra have settled into a new life in Mittagong but said Bourke would always be home. Since December, Mark has been enjoying the cooler climes of the southern highlands and enjoying the stress-free life of a retiree.
As Roads Manager at Bourke Shire Council, Mark was a quiet achiever, who without fanfare, successfully oversaw some of the biggest infrastructure projects undertaken in the Shire, from bridge building to road re-sealing.
Those projects transformed the way people were able to travel the vast distances of the Bourke Shire and they stand as a testament to his dogged professionalism and ‘can do’ attitude.
Mark admitted he had little ambition as a young man and certainly didn’t see himself as a manager heading multi-million-dollar projects.
He was a typical Bourke youngster, growing up at a time when the town was prosperous, thriving, and free-spirited.
“I was born in Coonamble and then lived in Quambone while I was in kindergarten, which I can still remember, and then my family moved to Bourke in 1973 when I was in fourth grade,” Mark said.
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