05/04/1949 – 04/09/2024
Steve grew up in Ivanhoe where his family were well known as his father owned a popular menswear store in Burgundy St, Heidelberg. He had a younger brother but, unfortunately, their early family life was unstable and later in life, Steve became his brother’s major carer before he tragically died at the age of 18.
Steve loved his football and had a big frame even as a youngster. As a 14-year-old, he played senior football for Heidelberg, and held his own against the men. This passion for football was with him all his life. After schooling locally, Steve commenced at Wesley in 1965 in Year 11. His main source of fame at Wesley stemmed from his great skill as a footballer. In his first year, he made the First XVIII and was regularly among the best players each match. In 1966 he again played outstandingly and was quoted by the daily paper of the time, The Herald, as being the best centre-half back in the Associated Public Schools. While he was a fine player, his teammates don’t remember Steve for his exertions on the training track and as a result, his second half performances were not as strong as his first! In 1966, he was a member of the Football Sub-Committee and elected Captain of Football in 1967, when his season ended in the third round with a bad knee injury. He received his Honour Colours for football in 1965.
Off the football field, Steve was a fine contributor to school life. He was a member of the Swimming Team in 1965, on the Hattam House Committee in 1966 and 1967, and Captain of Hattam in 1967. In that year, he was on the Games Committee, the Tuckshop Committee and became a School Prefect. Steve made a name for himself as the School Appeals Secretary in 1966 and was Co-Chairman of the Boat Race Promotions Committee. With all that going on in his life, he still managed to matriculate with what he called ‘five good passes.’
Those ‘five good passes’ were good enough to gain entrance to Monash University to do Economics and Politics. He was making his way at Monash until it was incumbent upon him to shoulder the family responsibility assisting his mother and entirely supporting younger brother Kevin, a move which meant he had to get a real job while still studying. He took up teaching at Preston Tech without a degree or much support, trying to control 16-year-olds who didn’t really want to be there. Maintaining order made his days difficult but survive and thrive he did.
Upon leaving Monash, he joined Federal Customs checking inbound freight. Steve was honest, forthright and certainly didn’t mind speaking his mind, all qualities which, combined with his size, he found very useful in the rough and tumble of the Melbourne Docks.
Steve played football at Collegians for a short time before moving to the Monash Whites for three years, two as Captain Coach and winning one Premiership. Although his fitness levels were no longer at their peak, he was still a fine player and on two occasions, he kicked 100 goals in the season at full forward. He then became Assistant Coach at University Blacks for two seasons.
In the early 1980s, Steve took a management role with Union Shipping and lived in New Zealand. He returned to Australia in 2000 and subsequently retired at the age of 55. Soon after, Steve purchased a home located between the front and back beaches in Rye, on two large blocks amidst Moonah trees. This home was a haven, a place where he was able to pursue a number of his passions including collecting a huge variety of different bottles of port, an interesting hobby given that he simply collected them without drinking them.
Steve loved music, mainly jazz, rhythm and blues, and country. He collected 12,000 CDs over his life and still had them all when he passed. He bought in bulk and many of the CDs were never opened. He was focussed on Frank Wills and his Texas Swing and became an aficionado of this music genre. His love of music was what took him into the world of community radio at 3RPP (Mornington) for several years before moving to Casey Radio in 2011 where he worked until August 2024. He had three shows on radio, two called ‘Hill Billy Swing & Blues’ and ‘Feral Fifties Fever’. His genre was music from the 1920s to the 1980s, and he was passionate about Casey Radio, where he served on several committees including the Board and, for a period, was Program Director.
Many descriptors come to mind when we think about Steve Burley; passionate, private, honest, spoke his mind (and didn’t care if you disagreed with him), sports lover (especially The Pies), generous in his support for Not-for-Profit organisations that impacted his life, keen sense of humour and loyal friend. He was a man of strong convictions and had many an opinion about the conduct of business, office politics, road traffic and much else. He could frequently wrap up a vigorous discussion, drawing on all his resources of logic and debate honed over many years at Monash and Carlton pubs with a pithy epithet. End of argument. Not settled. Just finished. Moving onto the next world issue which required solving.
Steve was fastidious about his garden. It was immaculate, always planted out and he was forever finding ways of improving it where he could. He was proud of what he presented (even though he employed gardeners to implement his ideas!) Steve also loved his dogs. His shepherds and pincers were his family, and he doted on them. Steve did not marry and unfortunately, had no other family once his parents had gone. Sadly, his passing has meant the end of his strain of the Burley family. He will be missed by all who knew him.
Contributed by David Crow OAM (OW1967)
