John Graeme Lenehan was a third-generation sheep and cattle grazier, born and raised near Wagga Wagga in the Riverina area of New South Wales.
His grandfather William Lenehan worked as an auctioneer in Melbourne before purchasing the 40,000-acre Brewarrina Station near Narrandera. The family then purchased many other properties in the area eventually totaling over 90,000 acres and shearing approximately 50,000 sheep per year.
John grew up on his family’s property in Cookardinia, a small rural community of 260 people. John completed his primary schooling in Wagga and attended a private boarding school in Melbourne for his secondary education. John understood, just as our Yalari scholars do, how a quality education can open up people, places, opportunities and experiences that can fundamentally change what the future holds.
At school, John played Australian Rules Football and cricket well, but it was in academics that he flourished. He had hoped to study law after school, however, as an only son of a second-generation pastoralist, and a father who wanted John to take over the family’s large pastoral holdings, John returned home to the land.
John always had a thirst for knowledge. He maintained a lifelong interest in politics, public affairs and finance. Like his father and grandfather, he kept meticulous journal records of business transactions, station staff salaries, cattle and sheep sale numbers and prices, and property-specific rainfall totals. He was well-travelled, a very astute businessman and community-minded, giving his time generously through Rotary and local committees.
In later years, John moved to the Gold Coast, where he owned a number of hotel licences and a leasing business and continued his strong community involvement.
John passed away in 2021 and is remembered as a family-orientated, kind and generous many with a wry sense of humour and a ready smile.
His love of learning, his country roots and upbringing, his thirst for knowledge and understanding, combined with this generosity, saw him wanting to give back. He was determined to help young Australians who live in country communities, to have the opportunity to receive a strong education, to enrich both their family and their local communities.
