Peter Kierath has led a lifelong mission to do everything he can to build, protect and improve the quality of life in Narromine; a mission that has long ran in his family’s blood and one that recently awarded him an Order of Australia Medal (OAM).

It was 1890 when Mr Kierath’s grandfather; William Kierath relocated to Narromine and married the daughter of Narromine’s founding father, William O’Neill. 

His family laid the foundational structures of the small community; a legacy that Mr Kierath actively carries on. 

“I’ve always done what I thought was good for Narromine and help wherever I can to try and increase the attractiveness and liveability of the town,” said Mr Kierath. 

Most notably, his efforts have seen the town’s Aviation Museum become an esteemed tourist feature. 

Since it’s inception in 1998, Mr Kierath has been a committee member, including several years as Chairman, of the museum, and has been one of the major driving forces behind it’s creation and subsequent growth. 

“We set up the committee in 1997 that included some members of the aero club, who spent about 6000 hours building the building itself,” said Mr Kierath. 

“We then put in for a grant application to finish it off and the Museum was then opened by Nancy-Bird Walton in 2002.”

The Museum showcases nearly a century of aviation in the Narromine region, as told through photographs, records, artefacts and aircraft.

Narromine’s Aviation Museum. SOURCE: Museums and Galleries NSW

“During the Second World War, we used to watch the planes fly over while we were outside playing with Quandongs or marbles or something like that,” explained Mr Kierath. 

“We’d all stop and look at it and then go back to playing our game,” he chuckled. 

“I also loved all the air shows that were on during the ‘50’s, which they had almost one every year and I’ve always been interested in the history of the town,” he said.

Peter has been largely responsible for many of the initiatives which have seen the Museum and its profile improve over the last 21 years.

In 2013 he was appointed project manager for the fundraising, design, construction, fitout and displays for a new wing extension after recognising the potential for including a number of historic aircraft into the museum.

He worked diligently alongside his committee and the council to raise funds, organise development applications and co-ordinate the architectural and engineering process of putting the display together.

In 2016, the success of this project was recognised with an Individual Achievement Award, and the Exhibition Projects Award at the Museum and Galleries of NSW’s IMAGinE awards. 

Peter Kierath being awarded his Individual Achievement trophy by the state minister The Hon Leslie Williams MP.

The Museum is now Narromine’s number one tourist attraction.

Mr Kierath’s mark on the community goes beyond the walls of the museum, however.

For 21 years he served on the hospital board, where the ‘most important project,’ of his was brought to life after he had noted that there was no aged care facility in Narromine at the time. 

“In the hospital there were always 3 or 4 or 5 aged people there who  weren’t sick but they had no where else to go,” he explained. 

Prior to the construction of an aged care facility in Narromine, elderly people who required assisted living had to move to Dubbo or Parkes, something that was completely ‘unacceptable’ in Mr Kierath’s eyes. 

“We had a bit of a battle to get the funding for it but we eventually got a significant grant which we built Timbrebongie House with,” he said. 

Timbrebongie House was erected in 1990 and is now home to forty seven residents.

In the early 2000’s, Mr Kierath also chaired a committee that campaigned for a new school hall to be used by the High School and the Primary School, as he had noted that some students had actually fainted at school assemblies in the past as there was not enough room for them all to sit. 

“We used to have a meeting every month and write to the minister after every meeting which must have gone on for 15 or 18 months,” he said. 

“We eventually got a phone call after an election and the Labour Party got in. This bloke who was the head of education got onto me and said do you want a 400 or 700 seater? 

“I said 700 seater!”

The school hall has now been an important part of school life for students and teachers over the last twenty years.

Through a wide range of thoughtful community projects that extend far beyond those mentioned, Mr Kierath has left a wonderful mark on the town of Narromine and carries on an inspiring legacy built by his great grandfather. 

Mr Keireth says that while the honour was graciously received, his work is what means the most to him. 

“I never really tend to look back, I’m always looking forward to see what we could be doing next,” he said.

So, in true Keireth style, he eagerly rattled off his plans for the next project in line. 

“We’ve just got a grant from the State Government for a memorial wall out the front of the Aviation Museum which will be forty metres long to record the names of all the pilots who trained here during World War Two.”

“There were 2800 pilots who trained here and over 25 per cent of those blokes didn’t come back,” he said. 

The announcement of Mr Keireth’s OAM was made at the Australia Day ceremony in Narromine on January 26, where he also received an award for Senior Citizen of the Year.