Neil Same

To understand a man, look at: his heritage; the way he lived; and the legacy he leaves.

Neil Same was from the Shmuelevitch family that came to Israel from Russia, no doubt “encouraged” by the pogroms of the late 1800s. They settled in Be’er Tuvia just a few kilometres inland from Ashdod, a moshava revitalised in 1896 by Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) from Odessa.

However, Neil’s father, Yehudah Leib Shmuelevitch, found that their Arab neighbours in the 1920s were no more hospitable than the Russians had been to his ancestors in the 1800s. So he made his way to the tiny rural village of Goomalling, Western Australia, where a number of families together established a new moshava amongst the much more hospitable Aussies. He then sent for his sweetheart, Yedida Rosen. They named their three Australian-born sons: Emanuel (“Hashem is amongst us”); Yehiel (“Hashem lives”); and Benjamin (after the youngest of the founders of the 12 tribes). Am Yisrael chai! ...even in the back blocks of rural Western Australia.

Yehudah Leib Shmuelevitch became “Leon Same”. Leon’s second son Yehiel (Neil) was born in 1927 on the moshav in Goomalling and spoke only Hebrew until he went to school. Neil attended Perth Modern School, then studied Medicine in Adelaide with class mates who became his closest, lifelong friends. On completing his studies, true to his chalutz heritage, he set up a country practice in the small town of Boddington, where his father had established a farm.

Then at his mother’s insistence, Neil went on a mission to Melbourne, to find a wife, and succeeded beyond his, and Yedida’s, wildest dreams. In 1954 Thelma Kosky, a petite, refined, elegant and sophisticated daughter of Swiss-Russian-Jewish immigrants, became a WA-country doctor’s wife. Over the next 54 years of marriage, Neil and Thelma sustained a durable Jewish home and family on the foundations of their love, which grew deeper and stronger each year.

Neil ploughed the proceeds from his medical practice back into the land. Paddock by paddock he established a farm just outside the town, ran an Angus-cattle stud and sheep flock, and grew oats and lupins. His family had farmed Europe and Israel, and he wasn’t about to stop that tradition in Australia.

Neil and Thelma were as productive as the farm, producing Robyn, Andrew and Ilana. When the children reached school age in the early 1960s, they moved to Perth to provide for their excellent education, both secular and Jewish.

Neil founded a number of medical practices in the metropolitan area, and commuted regularly with Thelma to Boddington to manage what had become a substantial farming enterprise. They generously shared their financial success and personal resources via Jewish-community organisations, Rotary and Zionist causes.

The man was hyperactive, rising every day of his life, before the sun, to set his tochnit (agenda) for the day. If there was a spare hour, he started another project. And if he started one, he always finished it: determined, tenacious and unstoppable; preferring to “wear out”, rather than “rust out”. This personal drive saw him through life’s adversities, including the premature loss of his son Andrew, and failing eyesight in later years.

Neil’s farming background and his years as a lone country doctor made him self-reliant and practical. He could repair the unrepairable, always had the right tool for every job, and could usually find just the material needed from the discards he’d stored away years before.

He also had an insatiable joie de vivre and a wicked sense of humour. Even at the age of 70, when his “good eye” was down to 10% vision, he could still sense an attractive woman across a crowded room and somehow bridge the gap in distance, age and culture, with his brutal wit and rough, bush “charm”.

Neil’s compassion, empathy and bush-doctor know-how is a West Australian legend. Usually, when he met someone, whether a patient, a neighbour or just a chance acquaintance half way around the world, he pursued a genuine interest in that person’s well being, which often developed into life-long friendship and mutual loyalty. Thousands of medical patients followed him faithfully from practice to practice, often for two or even three generations.

Neil died, as he was born, in the back blocks of rural Western Australia: Halls Creek, while holidaying with Thelma, en route between Darwin and Broome.

His legacy is also a tribute to the man.

Each of the three children has established a home and family in the proudest Jewish tradition. Robyn and Steve Lieblich, Andrew and Carolyn (nee Blank), and Ilana and John Broons have produced eight grandchildren: Sam, Judah and Adina; Scott and Tim; and Adam, Kimberley and Tom; who are all inspired by their “Poppa”.

Friendships from his earliest childhood and throughout his life endure, and thousands of medical patients are indebted to him for their well being or their very lives.

On Sunday 29th June 2008, we accompanied Neil’s’ body to its final resting place, near Andrew’s, and his indomitable spirit and memory to its permanent place in our hearts.