It is my sad duty to report that Simon Dunkerley, senior stampboards member and Moderator, and very good friend and colleague for 30 years, has passed away at home in the past day.
Simon had health problems for some time - he had just turned 50 years of age.
Simon Dunkerley was a leading Melbourne dealer in errors and rarities etc, and wrote a column on that field for "Stamp News" each month.
He was a past President of ASDA (APTA), and member of the PTS in London. He had served on the Expertising Committee of the Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria. (RPSV.)
Simon actively consulted with the Editor of Stanley Gibbons catalogues each year to keep them updated with true market prices, and new error and missing colour discoveries. Likewise with the Australasian Commonwealth Specialists Catalogue (ACSC) Editor.
He was especially active in getting crooks banned from ebay after offering forged official perfins and overprints and postmarks from this region. 26 different handles - near all from the same person were banned by ebay, and thus saved collectors a fortune due to his tireless work in that field -
http://stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=242
Simon was very active in stamps at many levels ... and he started at a very young age.
The "age" rules were changed at the Brighton Philatelic Society so that he could join at the tender age of 12 and receive approval books. (The age HAD been 18.) He ran a stamp shop for a week on his own - at age 12.
Simon won a Large Silver at the 'Cuppex 87' National for his exhibit of Western Australia postal fiscal stamps.
He was one of the most knowledgeable and most respected dealers to ever sell stamps in this country, and he will be missed enormously. By dealers and collectors alike. A real gentleman. No collector or dealer ever said a bad word about Simon.
Simon was my best friend in the Dealer Community, and his wise advice and counsel, and input over the decades was immense, and generously given at all times.
Simon was a Foundation member on http://www.stampboards.com since we started up, (he was member 39 to be precise) and he gladly served as a Volunteer Moderator, working for the benefit of the other members here.
I'll miss him greatly.
We've had probably 100 dinners together, on 3 continents over the decades, and he was a real gentleman and man of honour. He had been very active for years in Church activities in his home region of Blackburn South in Melbourne.
He got a Bachelor of Economics degree at Monash University. Then studied further part-time for two years towards an MBA at Melbourne University. Readers can readily see where his love of graphs and price % rises etc all came from.
I wrote this front page feature story on Simon for the American "Stamp Wholesaler" magazine in mid 1999, and it outlines his stamp background and interests - much of it in his own words:
http://www.glenstephens.com/dunkerly.html
Simon made over 750 posts on this Bulletin Board, and the stamp knowledge and detail in each one was a feature of them, and is a legacy he can be enormously proud of.
These posts summed up Simon's approach to stamps - he never commented on anything until he had thought about it carefully, and had thoroughly researched all his facts.
Simon and Angela both spent a great deal of time and energy on Christian Church related activities, and I know those religious among us will have them both in their prayers.
My sincere condolences to wife Angela, and his two children Stephanie and Andrew at this difficult time.
Glen Stephens
Simon - R. I. P.
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I have just heard from Arthur Gray that a Funeral Service will be held for Simon Dunkerley at the Crossway Baptist Church, 2 Vision Drive, Burwood, Victoria, this coming Friday 27th February, at 1pm.
Sadly I will be on a plane to Chicago at that time, or otherwise would have attended, but if any members were planning to attend, those are the details.
A large section of the stamp trade will be overseas at that time, due to Stampex and Philatex etc in London.
RIP Simon .................... and condolences and prayers again to his family.
Glen
Later Update - my webmaster spent a good deal of time rescuing as far as was possible (as his website had expired) all the detailed 'Stamp News' articles Simon Dunkerley wrote - all now recorded here for posterity -
https://www.glenstephens.com/simondunkerleytribute.html