Thomas Markus Schindlmayr

Hi Tom
The last 12 months has just flown by and it is really hard to believe it has been 12 months since you have left this earth and started a new journey .... not a week goes by when I dont think of our friendship ... Thank you for the short time I knew you ... All the best
Miss you
Craig

FROM THE BALMAINERS


For many years Thomas occupied an office at 20 Balmain Crescent on the Australian National University campus. We remember his unfailing courtesy, helpfulness, industry and energy, and his efforts to advocate improved disabled amenities so that others could benefit. His resilience was such that he seemed indestructible.  We also remember his wry sense of  humour.

Thomas was the Hero of Balmain.  Yet he was never awarded the highly coveted degree of Balmainae Baccalaureus, in spite of his sterling service as supernumerary night security guard, photocopier fixer and Googlemeister. When working late he was a radio Quiz show whizz, googling the answers to trivia questions and phoning them in.

 

He was also the Preserver of the 20 Balmain Traditions, several of which were created by him. Most notable were the regular trips to Happy's Chinese restaurant which could only be approached by a steep and narrow L-shaped staircase. The velocity of his wheelchair on the Schindlmayrstrasse (see John Bryant's 'Memory') and on the lawn was quite remarkable, to the extent that he was disqualified from the T-shirt competition for doing acrobatics during the parade. Yet at the Demography 50th anniversary dinner awards he was amongst the nominees for his 3 frog T-shirt illustrating qualitative data collection (see not, hear not and say not).

His wedding to Julia was a memorable and enjoyable event. Although the Balmainers had some very distinguished people from different continents at their table, the comedian/compere did not know their names and mistakenly alleged that they included Eddy Murphy, General and Mrs Rambuka, the Mad Professor and Indian cricket star Laxman. After they moved to New York, Thomas and Julia always came for afternoon tea  at 20 Balmain whenever they came back to Canberra.  We think that it would be most fitting if our historic bungalow came to be known as the Thomas Schindlmayr Building.

 

I was one of Thomas's teachers at the European School in Muncih or rather, and there is a difference, I was one of the teachers in the school at the time when he was there. The school was not used to pupils with disabilities and Thomas quickly made us aware of this, not by moanning but by explaining: I remember one session in the gym when he managed to borrow/purloin plenty of wheelchairs and taught us how to play basketball from a new perspective. He took part in everything - sixth form trips to Italy which were not exactly sedentary or static, and the Model European Council where he sharpened his political skills. Thomas showed his peers and teachers how to enjoy life and my first response when I think of him is to smile because that was what he always managed to make me do. I last saw him nearly 20 years ago when he and Lisa Davies came to visit us in Oxford and it was clear he was spreading his wings. The news of his death, and the messages about him, have brought back to me the picture of someone who knew how to enjoy life and to look for new horizons. I send my best wishes to his family and to Julia whom I do not know and I thank you, Thomas, for all that you gave to those who knew you.

Thomas Schindlmayr A blessing to human-kind He touched the lives of millions With his sweet and gentle shine His compassion for all to live equally, led him on a mission Paving a better life for those who needed some assistance. Thomas became the voice for many who are disabled Creating a better life for those that were unable Bless you Thomas For your beauty and grace For touching the heart of millions For making this world a better place The memories of you shall live in our hearts and minds Along with your legacy of good work To human-kind Jean Shum 5/08

There are so, so many memories and like many of us I could fill several books with them but for now let me just say that wherever I was and whichever country I was in, if I was with our wonderful Tommy I was home.

I got to know Thomas when he was a small boy and came to visit his father in his office, where I also worked. Thomas was interested in stamps and I used to collect the stamps from the office mail for him. After he had received his stamps, Thomas often made a cup of coffee for me and proudly brought it in his wheel chair to my desk without spilling a drop! I also have memories of those “Wheelatons” (Wheelchair Marathons); sometimes it was already dark and cold and most people had gone home, but Thomas kept pushing his wheelchair, continuously adding more laps to his total score and it was impossible to persuade him to finish and go home. The “Wheelatons” were also a fundraising event and at one occasion colleagues put money on each round round Thomas would push - they had, however, no idea how much endurance he had. I think his father was slightly embarrased when he collected the money the next day. Thomas gave a demonstration of his willpower and endurance already at an early age!

Some gorgeous memories are coming back to me about our childhood together:

 

* When he was in bed, I would take away his chair and make him stay there.

* He and his younger brother Wolfi would always gang up on me in the car...that is until mum made them be quiet.....

* He dreamt once that he ate a giant marshmallow and the next morning his pillow was gone.

* He was an awsome swimmer, basketball player and wheelchair marathon pusher.

* He was a chick magnet- all he had to do was go into the middle of the dance floor, lift those front wheels, do his wheelie dancing and then he was was surrounded by the girls......how Julia mamged to get him in the end???????

*He would make enormous mugs of hot tea simply so that he could wrap his long fingers around them to keep his hands warm.

* When he was studying, he would put his lamp on his head as if to improve the functionings of his brain.

*When we spent time at our holiday house at lake Eildon, dad would tow him on a board at the back of the boat. He did that for hours. He would sing that horrible holiday song in the car' Hooray, hooray we're in Goughs Bay'.

*He broke his leg, when he got on a plane to see Haileys Comet.

*He would ride up and down escalators scaring the hell out of everyone watching him......

*We use to pretend that we were 'Monkey' from the TV show and wave around our magic stick.

 

So many memories, so many good times......I love you Tommy. Thank you.

                                              My Son

 

Quoting from the speach i gave him, his Julia and his guests at his wedding dinner on 6th. January, 2002 in Old Parliament House in Canberra:

 

".....so now I would like to shed some light on those events that helped or forced the development of Thomas into the loveable panic-button-pressing, generous and penny-pinching genius that we are giving away today .

 

Much to his annoyance until recently, Thomas was born in Germany just a few months before we ventured to Australia in search of uranium and a good marriage, and he was soon whisked away from wet Manly Beach to dry Alice Springs. There, with father being out bush for weeks on end, little Thomas soon learned to take lead responsibilities in the paddle pool behind our house, in pulling the tails of dogs and cats, and in taking Mum to the weekly drive-in, where he would discourage her from watching cruel Tom& Jerry by heavy snoring, but enhance her enjoyment of John Wayne Westerns by loudly explaining the plots and shots to her.

 

He was always smiling, happy and either a chatterbox or quietly content to play Lego, doggedly trying to work up to his early ambition to become an "airplane driver" - and he kept producing some beaut aircraft models that would put an Airbus 860 to shame.

He started and loved "Kindy" in Alice Springs and happily received and played with his first life toy, little Ingeborg, in early 1973.

 

All this suddenly changed when he was just 4 years of age with our car accident, that left him a paraplegic. For medical reasons we moved to Adelaide and then on to Melbourne in 1974.

 

In several ways Melbourne was a lucky choice: first of all, the Austin Hospital in Heidelberg was the most experienced Spinal Unit in Australia at the time and it catered well for his physical and medical needs over the years.

 

Secondly, we were very lucky to find at Eltham College a young and progressive school, that was prepared to incorporate Thomas' needs in its planning for construction and extension. There, together with his siblings, he grew up all the way from preschool to year 10 in a learning environment tailored to his needs and to individuality.

Thomas, never much of an artist even today, soon gave away the drawing and building of aircraft to concentrate instead on memorising junk knowledge and essential knowledge alike with such a vigor, that soon he drove both teachers and us parents mad with such annoyingly challenging question as "What is the capital of Bhutan?" or "What is the national anthem of San Marino?" or, if all else failed, an easy "What was the former name of Myanmar?". Luckily -for the sake of our sanity- he had some weak spots, too, like the daily fitsover the spelling of simple words like !Namibia" or "Calder Highway".

 

But most of all Melbourne was a lucky choice, because it was the base and home of the PARAVICS, the Paraplegic Sports Club of Victoria. Here, at the Clifton Hill oval, starting from the age of 8 years, Thomas became part of a spirit of equally handicapped that strived to live with and outwit disability through individual and competitive sports. While enjoying physical fitness, testing the threshholds of his body's performance and building up strength of ambition and willpower, of  endurance and tenacity, he foremost gained tremendous self-confidence in his own, near unlimited abilities. To give just a few examples: at 13 Thomas was the first Australian under 20 (as he corrected me just recently) to push 100 miles within 24 hours, and he was at one point Australian Junior Champion in tabletennis and swimming.

 

Whilst later, after leaving Australia, sport never again featured much in his life, the self confidence and the conviction, that he could do anything (such as elephant riding and white water rafting in Nepal, tandem parajumping for fund raising purposes or driving his own car) if he just wanted to, stayed with him and - I really hope- will stay with him for the many years to come.

 

Of course, sport achievements alone could not fully compensate for all the difficulties in coming to terms with the limits imposed by his disability, and there were broody times of fierce competion between siblings for parental TLC.

 

In 1986, the collaps of the uranium market forced us to seek greener fields back in Germany, a country known to our children only from short holidays over the years as the "land of the many relatives".

Thomas tried in vain to delay departure from Australia by breaking his leg on a Special flight to watch Halley's Comet 11,000 feet up in the air,

but once in Germany, he waffled his way into jumping one year at the European School  in Munich and he ended up with the prestigious European Baccalaureate in mid-1988.

 

One year of studies of Economics at the overcrowded Munich University was enough for him: he left us behind in 1989 and disappeared into London's mysterious ways of life -reportedly full of girls, fun and the hard work of fending for himself (at least occasionally when no other cook was on hand).

We know little of his conduct and studies at SOAS and the LSE, or of his experiences, successes , deprivations and disappointment and glamour times during those years of studies and work at the IPPF, but many a good and lasting friendship was forged then.

 

We only met up with Thomas again in Canberra when he decided to take advantage of our diplomatic posting there: especially to Mum's delight, he moved in with us again in 1993 and started his PhD in Demography at the ANU. Only then -and only bit by bit over time- did we learn about his best kept secret, Julia:

allegedly Aussie-born with strong European affiliations.

Eventually mysterious Julia came to Canberra to live with us for a while, then settled down next door to us, just before we had to trturn to Germany in 1996.

Julia even put her head straight into the lion's den itself, when she alone paid us a visit in Germany to be ogled at by those numerous relatives, and she passed that torrid test with brave smiles and flying colors. We certainly took her into our folds there and then.

 

Earlier this year (2001), having topped his PhD in Demography with a Master in International Law and after various contract work (such as with the Australian Defence Department) and publications Thomas nearly despaired of ever finding

a job; a short time later he suddenly had difficulties fending off too many offers all at the same time from the EU and the United Nations.

 

Now, that he has decided to go to New York and - in the same stride finally take on new responsibilities in marriage, we wish him and Julia all the best for their future together; we wish them the strength .....to stick it out together through thick and thin as it may come, and never stop respecting and loving each other."

 

 

PS (29.4.2008): They have done just that, even if towards the end it came rather thinner than thicker.

 

Abschiedsbrief seiner Mutter an Thomas, der ihm zuletzt in der Nacht vor seinem Scheiden von seinem Vater vorgelesen wurde:

 

Mein geliebter Thomas,

 

Du wirst von uns gehen, ohne dass ich Dir noch einmal selbst sagen kann, wie sehr ich Dich liebe.

 

Du wirst in ein schöneres, besseres Leben gehen: da wirst Du nicht mehr leiden müssen, wirst wieder gehen können und vielleicht die Länder bewundern, die Du noch nicht gesehen hast. Es werden Menschen auf Dich warten, die Dich lieben, und Du wirst frei sein.

 

Es tut mir unendlich weh, nicht noch einmal in Deine blauen Augen schauen, nicht mehr Deine Hände halten und küssen zu können, nicht mehr Dein Gesicht in meinen Händen spüren, Dich nicht mehr umarmen und drücken zu dürfen.

 

Wann und wo Du auch immer sein wirst: meine Liebe, meine Kraft und mein Licht werden Dich begleiten und beschützen.

 

Ich liebe Dich so sehr

 

Deine Mutter

There must be many people with happy memories of time chatting with Thomas at Balmain Cres, next to Schindlmayrstrasse (the wooden ramp leading down to the picnic table.)

Tom, We'll never forget our fun times with you, especially our first "aussie christmas" in New York playing cricket in Brooklyn to the amusement of many onlookers. New Year's Eve celebrations with you were particularly dangerous - we remember when ren ended up in the emergency room on New Year's Day after trying to keep up with you on the dance floor! We never got over the fluke of having met you at University in Canberra and then bumping into you years later in the bank queue at the UN - we feel so lucky to have had a chance to spend precious time with you on two continents. I will always remember the way you handled the journos in Room 226 at the UN, they really listened to you and you made them care about the issues. And thanks to you, people in wheelchairs can now have a seat at the podium! Your speech in the GA on the Holocaust Memorial was another amazing memory, surely counting among the best the room has heard. You truly were an inspiration to everyone who crossed paths with you professionally or socially and through your work at the UN you have even touched lives of people who never met you and will never meet you, but who will benefit from your dedication to seeing the rights of people with disabilities recognised. We love you Tom and we'll miss you dearly. Ren and Ram

Thomas,

 

I will alway remember the special treatments (as you always say)we get when traveling together internationally. The special attention for being either the first or the last to boardor disembark from the planes. 

 

You were my mento and my companion in the nights at 20 Balmain when I was trying to work on my thesis.

 

The stories and informations you spared with me were always fruitful onces and encouraging.

 

The conversions during afternoon tea at 20 Balmain is one thing you never forget even when you make your short visits to Canberra.

 

Your wedding day will alway be in my memories as it was a special day for the Balmain crowd.

 

My family Sam, Ana, and myself will never forget you. You will always be in our thoughts.

 

 

Mili