Whereas his work used to be mainly in the Australasian Pacific region, today he is equally likely to be sourcing equipment from Dubai and sales in Azerbaijan - on his boat, from his laptop.

Few know that Keith is also a talented pianist, who studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music whilst commencing his working career at the NSW Police Department. A twist of fate saw him meet Bill Miskoe of Lincoln Electric in 1948 and he joined that company as a sales cadet. He undertook studies in welding, welding metallurgy and electrical trades whilst working under Vin Logan, who proved to be an important mentor to Keith over the years.

In 1952, he married his wife of 55 years, Maureen MacNamara and joined ISAS to sell Lincoln products as well as crawler tractors, cranes, and materials handling equipment from a base in Newcastle. Five years later, he made the move to Mole Engineering as a specialist representative for quarry products, including crushers and rock drills, and secured the Crose-Perrault representation for Australia on their behalf. This proved to be a significant move in an association that has spanned 48 years with the Texan company.

Mole went on to also represent Ditch Witch, Buckeye Ditcher and Gofor Trencher lines and became the biggest export outlet for Ditch Witch trenchers worldwide. Keith’s vision for the company continued to expand its horizons, opening the company’s first branch in Melbourne, then Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane. At 30, he had become a director and manager of Mole Pipeline Equipment Company.

“Lloyd Rees, who part owned Mole was the major influence on my life. He was a mining engineer with an extraordinary intellect and commercial nous. It was at Lloyd’s request in 1964 that I began the first of many visits to the USA, Japan, Europe and the UK, arranging new machinery agencies and attending to the principles of our existing dealerships,” Keith says.

In 1968, Carter Johnson of Australian Pipeline Constructions called Keith to attend a meeting with Dick Plake of Ingrams, Ron Nicholas of Red Ru, Lucio Lusso of Saipem, Scotty Carse of Utah, Ken Piesse and one or two others, with the object of setting up the Australian Pipeline Contractors Association (APCA - now APIA). CRC had established a wide rapport with International Pipeline Associations and their members.

While Keith was unable to be a member of the Association, as membership was only open to contractors, he was called on to arrange the initial dinner meeting at the Federal Hotel in Melbourne and to seek new members. The first convention was orchestrated by Keith and Geoff Lord, who later formed Lordco. “Geoff was a stylish guy and added a lot to the Association,” says Keith.

“Our second convention saw the introduction of both tennis and golf tournaments which were very successful. A feature of the golf day was my then sales manager, Ken Barker, complete with bookies’ bag at a par three offering odds about the green and the circle. The Mole-CRC perpetual golf trophy became an eagerly coveted prize and the fancy dress night, which was conceived and supported by CRC-Crose, was a huge success and continues to be so to this day,” he says.

Returning from a group visit by 23 Aussies which he organised to inspect the CRC automatic welding system in West Texas, Keith decided to establish his own business and set up Witch Engineering to build and sell trenchers, and Pacific Pipelines to handle CRC-Evans products. The businesses prospered, producing innovative new designs for trenchers which captured 85 per cent of the small trencher market in Australia. The Wenco model P4P with four wheel counter rotating hydraulic steering and the miniature drop head borer – both unique by world standards – were highlights of Keith’s design innovation and have since been copied by others.

Pacific Pipelines enjoyed success in having CRC’s automatic welding system selected for the greater portion of the Moomba-Sydney pipeline, and the Dampier-Perth pipeline followed. Meanwhile, most Australian pipelines were serviced by Keith and his business.

Keith sold both businesses in the 1980s to H.C. Sleigh, who placed them under the control of its subsidiary Banbury Engineering. Keith continued as a consultant to Banbury – and when it closed in 1998, he again individually provided CRC-Evans’ representation in Australia.

A new chapter began when Keith once again built several new, thriving businesses, representing American Augers Directional Drills and launching an online web brokerage service called Drillsource. “I played a role in helping Andy Lukas secure one of his ‘mega-drills’ …660,000 lbs thrust pullback. This gave me a lot of pleasure – and a terrific boast for my website! There were great experiences in meeting with the big operators such as Andy and Steve Coe…the top fellows in this game,” says Keith.

Today, Keith is the longest serving International Representative of CRC, having notched up 48 years for the company. He continues to enjoy a number of roles for various companies, slowing down only to concentrate more on his music. He has recently completed a classical composition, “Suite in A minor”, which is presently in print, and has two other pieces at manuscript stage. A collection of verse will also be printed within the year.

“The pipeline industry and its Association have provided both Maureen and me with many years of pleasure. The lifelong friendships have been numerous and very special indeed!” says Keith.