R.I.P. Kieron Olm-Milligan
I was completely shocked yesterday by the news of the passing of one of my oldest friends. Kieron and I met at our high school (‘Churchie’) back when we were 14, playing chess together not just in the interschool competitions, but nationally and internationally as well. His death is untimely and truly tragic.
Kieron was one of those all-round good guys who couldn’t seem to put a foot wrong. He was one of the reasons chess became so popular at Churchie during my time there. Together with Ben McPhee and Michael Davidovici, we formed the Churchie ‘Dream Team’ that won the GPS interschools six years in a row, won two national championships, and travelled together to New York in 200o, representing the Southern Hemisphere in the World Schools Final.
But as everyone knows, you need more than just results to make chess popular at school. Kieron was a role model among his peers: he represented the school at the highest level for tennis, rugby and cricket, excelled in class, and had a razor-sharp sense of humour that elevated him to one of the most popular guys around, ‘despite’ his chess prowess. After school, he kept active in the chess scene, playing often for Club Bullwinkle and entertaining us with his wit at the club’s irregular social events. Unfortunately, we lost touch a bit over the past couple of years, and I hadn’t heard any news about him for over a year until yesterday’s email from Nik Stawski.
Looking back, there’s probably only a handful of friends of mine from Churchie I can say I really knew well, and even less who I looked up to. Kieron was definitely one of them.
Farewell, Kizza. You will be missed.
Kieron and I were class mates (Ela Beach International School) here in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea from years 1993-1997. I regret to only find out about his passing today, the harsh realities of losing touch with friends who lives far away.
He was my friend and we in Papua New Guinea will miss him. R.I.P K-Paps!
David your kind words are appreciated and I’ve passed them on to mum and dad. Its amazing how small the world is… I think three different people have linked me this post in the last hour! There’s a good chance I’ll be in Europe before the end of next year and I’ll be sure to look you up for a COLD beer and hopefully a yarn and a laugh. Dom Olm-Milligan
Kieron worked for me for a short time while he was at uni. To my dissappointment he prefered Poker to borinmg old accounting which was a shame because he had a great future in the professions. This is a great waste similar to a bloke that I went to Churchie with in the 70’s called John Wren a true genius and fatastic bloke whose life also ended premature. Can we try and take something out of this, keep in touch with your mates and don’t be afraid to call on each other we are all Churchie Old Boys and as such should reach out to one another any time any where. R.I.P. Kieron
What the?! We were only talking about you him and the other chess guys last week in the office!! R.I.P Kieron…