Trevor Neuendorf
Background
Trevor Neuendorf and his identical twin brother, Keith, were born into comfortable circumstances in Melbourne in 1918. As youths, they competed at representative level in such diverse sports as rowing, boxing, athletics and sailing. With abundant exuberance and a touch of mischievousness, the twins often played on their identical appearance, and the family acknowledges that there may have been times when each twin played the role of the other on the sporting field and perhaps in romance.
With the onset of World War II, they both enlisted in the 2/23rd Australian Infantry Battalion (‘Albury’s Own’) and were sent to the Middle East with lieutenant rankings. Keith was killed at El Alamein in 1942. Trevor was captured at Tobruk and spent the remaining four years of the war in an Italian prisoner-of-war camp. At war’s end, ranked as captain, he was repatriated to Australia and left the Army to face a difficult transition to post-war life.
In 1948, he married Anna Termeulen in Melbourne where daughter Gail was subsequently born. Unable to settle to work in the family business in Melbourne, Trevor decided to seek work opportunities elsewhere and was drawn to the Sunshine Coast beaches where he and Keith fished with their father in the late 1930s. He inspected and bought 17 acres of farmland on Buderim, then returned to Melbourne to collect his family.
Buderim - life and community
A short time later in 1951, Trevor and Anna set up home for themselves and baby Gail in a packing shed on their Buderim property and started their new life as small-crop farmers. A son, named to honour Trevor’s late brother Keith, was born in 1954. They farmed their Buderim property until 1959, then bought a small furniture shop in Maroochydore - the beginnings of what was to become Neuendorf Interiors. With no previous retail experience, they improvised, worked hard and expanded services to meet customer demand, maintaining a very hands-on involvement in the business as it grew and prospered.
They continued to live on their property in Buderim and participated in community activities, particularly the establishment of Headland Golf Club. Their son Keith recalls that he and other offspring like him were known as the ‘golf club orphans’ because of their parents’ commitment to the club’s development. Trevor was a foundation member of the golf club and was also heavily involved with RSL activities.
Many people knew Trevor as a down-to-earth man, the quintessential quiet achiever doing good things behind the scenes. He was a very giving man in the way he often helped people on an individual basis without general recognition of his generosity.
He was also an accomplished artist, particularly in the field of miniature portraiture, having learnt and developed his artistic skills during his POW years.
Trevor died in 1970, aged 52.
Donor: Neuendorf family
