LIAM DURKIN
By LIAM DURKIN
AUSTRALIANS mourned the death of singer-songwriter Olivia Newton-John last week.
Readers might be interested to know the Grammy Award-winner had some connection to the Latrobe Valley – albeit a very vague one.
Newton-John’s older brother Hugh was in fact a doctor, who served in Moe for a period during the 1990s.
Hugh Newton-John worked at Tanjil Place Medical Centre. He was a noted infectious diseases specialist, described as tall, slim and introspective.
After graduating from Melbourne University Medical School in 1962, the eldest of the three Newton-John siblings worked primarily at Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital, Melbourne during the 1970s and 1980s.
The hospital was closed, despite protest campaigns, in 1996, leading Newton-John to move to the Latrobe Valley.
Upon moving to the area, he lived in Coalville with his family, and continued to consult in Moe even after returning to live in the city.
It is reported that he occasionally wore a ‘Moe’ t-shirt on social occasions, featuring the
character Moe Howard from The Three Stooges.
Hugh Newton-John slowly disappeared from view later in life, and died in 2019 aged 79.
His other older sister Rona died in 2013.
Olivia shared a collage of photos on Instagram at the time of her brothers death, posting:
“My dear, sweet, gentle, clever, brother Hugh passed away May 7, 2019, in Melbourne, Australia after many years of decline. I love him so and will miss him terribly”
