Happy 90th, Gerry!

Freo Today. 30 March 2025. Guess who has just turned 90 and had a big party at the North Freo Bowlo yesterday to celebrate it? You’re right. The indefatigable and seemingly ageless Gerry MacGill. Gerry is so well known around Freo that he hardly needs a last name. ‘Gerry’ is usually a sufficient reference. People will know immediately who you are referring to. But if you are still unsure whether the fellow in the group is Gerry, you’ll know it’s him once you hear the Geordie burr. Born in Wallsend, right next to Newcastle, England, up there in the North where ships used to be built, Gerry found his way to Fremantle via Canada, and after a short return to the UK to study in London, never really left. One of the first Fremantle Society candidates to be elected to the Fremantle Council in the 70s, Gerry was one of the new breed dedicated to the saving of Freo as we knew it then and still know it today. He served on Council from 1975 until 1988. Gerry has been equally dedicated over the years to conserving the integrity of North Fremantle, where he has lived since the 70s and remains a stalwart of the North Freo Community Association. If you ask Gerry what he is up to these days, post retirement some years back, he is likely to tell you he is busy being a ‘general public nuisance’ and North Fremantle Precinct Convenor. So, please join with us here at the Shipping News in wishing Gerry MacGill, Freo legend, the happiest of 90th birthdays. Happy birthday, Gerry. If you’d like to hear Gerry tell his story in his own words, here’s our 2021 podcast with Gerry.