Des Boseley Vale
It is with great sadness that we report on the passing of Melbourne International Shooting Club Life member and friend Des Boseley who passed away on July 5th 2023 after a short illness. Des loved shooting and participated at the club multiple times each week except when he was away travelling. He joined the Melbourne Pistol Club as it was then known on October 2nd, 1967 and remained an active member for all of his 56 years of membership. He was one of the earliest members of the VAPA with a member number of 99 – a score we would all be happy with for a 10-shot string. He received his 50-Year VAPA medallion in 2017.
Des and his wife Lesley (also a MISC life member) were stalwarts at MISC participating in many club activities. During his time at the club, Des served on various committees holding the positions of President, Secretary, Club Captain, Club Open organiser and VAPA delegate. He was a regular participant at Open shoots around the country for many years.
In the early days of the development of MISC on the Todd Road site, he was instrumental in the construction of the ranges at Port Melbourne spending every weekend for a two-year period assisting with building the clubroom and the 25M ranges so that shooting could commence on the site. His little car was used to drag building materials into place. However, that was not sustainable. So Des donated a Massey Ferguson tractor which was used to assist with construction of the 50M ranges and was later used to help with grass cutting, car park repair and a myriad of other activities. He was ably assisted by wife Lesley who joked that for a while MISC was Des’ second wife and if she wanted to see Des, she had to join him at the club.
In his early years, Des was a passionate cyclist and he also enjoyed model aircraft building. He loved to tinker in his shed with various projects. He also loved to fix things at the club and was often seen on a ladder replacing a light, or a bit of guttering or some other thing that needed doing at the club. He was a man of few words who loved his family and travelling, but shooting was his passion. Two of Des and Lesley’s children – Claire and Cheryl also took up shooting and were members for a time at MISC.
An engineer by training, during his career Des worked at the SEC for a while before taking a position at the Ammunition Factory in Maribyrnong. He lived for almost his whole married life at the house in McKenna St, Avondale Heights. But his second home was at MISC in Port Melbourne where he spent many hours shooting, working on various projects and chatting with friends at the club.
Des will be missed by all of us who knew him. RIP dear friend.
In the early days of the development of MISC on the Todd Road site, he was instrumental in the construction of the ranges at Port Melbourne spending every weekend for a two-year period assisting with building the clubroom and the 25M ranges so that shooting could commence on the site. His little car was used to drag building materials into place. However, that was not sustainable. So Des donated a Massey Ferguson tractor which was used to assist with construction of the 50M ranges and was later used to help with grass cutting, car park repair and a myriad of other activities. He was ably assisted by wife Lesley who joked that for a while MISC was Des’ second wife and if she wanted to see Des, she had to join him at the club.
In his early years, Des was a passionate cyclist and he also enjoyed model aircraft building. He loved to tinker in his shed with various projects. He also loved to fix things at the club and was often seen on a ladder replacing a light, or a bit of guttering or some other thing that needed doing at the club. He was a man of few words who loved his family and travelling, but shooting was his passion. Two of Des and Lesley’s children – Claire and Cheryl also took up shooting and were members for a time at MISC.
An engineer by training, during his career Des worked at the SEC for a while before taking a position at the Ammunition Factory in Maribyrnong. He lived for almost his whole married life at the house in McKenna St, Avondale Heights. But his second home was at MISC in Port Melbourne where he spent many hours shooting, working on various projects and chatting with friends at the club.
Des will be missed by all of us who knew him. RIP dear friend.
