‘Old school’ operator fondly remembered

Real estate icon Ron Chuck farewelled last week

Location. Location. Location. It is the time honoured catchcry of building success in real estate but the late Ron Chuck had another priority in his long and respected career – people.

It was what he loved about the industry the most – his connection with clients, many of whom became good friends, and connecting those clients with the home of their dreams.

Ron (pictured right at his desk & below with son Paul) never really completely stepped away from the Gebhardts Real Estate office, until he moved into care at St Mary’s, popping in regularly and running a tab at Collars & Cuffs where he would continue to meet those long standing clients-turned-mates.

“Meeting with people – that was where his enjoyment came,” son and current Gebhardts Real estate principal Paul Chuck said. “He loved meeting and greeting and talking to people.”

The real estate icon was farewelled last Tuesday but his legacy lives on. The description most apt when looking to encapsulate Ron Chuck the real estate leader and the man is ‘old school’.

“Dad gave to so many charities and sporting groups but it was always anonymous – that is how it was done back then and he never changed – he was definitely old school,” Paul said. And it was his old school values that drove him to build relationships – a hand shake was as good as a signature.

“He really was a people person and even at St Mary’s, day and night he was always interacting with the other residents and the staff,” Paul said. Gebhardts Real Estate was built on strong values and that is what will live on.

“Dad’s legacy here will be around making time for people, treating clients and staff with respect and always operating in an ethical manner,” Paul said. “This place was his life for over 50 years and testament to him, the business is running well with a lot of long term staff that have been here 15 to 20 years. He also always gave young people a chance and we try to continue to do that as well.”

He was also an early supporter of Lifestyle1, playing a huge role in helping bring other local real estate agents on board.

“He really believed it was a good alternative for the city – for agents and customers,” Paul said.

Paul only has fond memories of the early years, learning the real estate game alongside his father, joining the Gebhardts team in 1988.

“He wanted me to come in here but it was absolutely my decision,” Paul said. “I was in the building trade but then I came on here to be dad’s apprentice and he trained me up and I must enjoy because I am still here 35 years later.”

In 2015, Gebhardts Real Estate was inducted into the Mount Gambier Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame and at that time the father-son combination was able to look back at the history of the business.

It was started by Helen Gebhardt and for a 50 year old, single woman, to launch her own business in the 1950s was as inspirational as it was shocking but while most said she wouldn’t last six months, Miss Gebhardt not only lasted, her legacy continues, now through the Chuck family.

Starting in a tiny room at the foot of the stairs in the Jens annex, with a second hand typewriter and a desk, Miss Gebhardt took only 12 months to outgrow her humble start-up location and moved to 18 Watson Terrace.

The hard working visionary went on to work up until she was 85 and she even had an office in the current Gray Street premises after her “retirement” at 85 years of age.

Interestingly, in a time when migrants are again front and centre of national issues, one of Miss Gebhardt’s lasting legacies was her generosity to the wave of European families that called Mount Gambier home by providing assistance above and beyond so they could purchase a home.

And while Miss Gebhardt made the bold and conscious decision to move into the world of real estate for Ron Chuck, who joined Miss Gebhardt’s operation in 1969, the move was more accidental than anything.

“I’d been at Softwoods for 16 years,” Ron said. “I loved my job and they were a terrific company to work for.”

But when his sister was set to return to Mount Gambier from Adelaide, she asked him to scout properties for her and the rest, as they say, is history.

“I asked around as to which agent I should deal with and everyone said H.L. Gebhardt was the most honest,” Ron said. Not only did he find his sister a home, he also caught the eye of Miss Gebhardt who offered him a job.

“She kept ringing me and saying I should be in real estate,” Ron said. “She just kept offering me a job.”

And so, while Ron loved his job at Softwoods, the opportunity to take up a new challenge was eventually too tempting to refuse.

“I always had the fear that Softwoods would be taken over and it wouldn’t be the same so it seemed like a good “…Dad’s legacy here will be around making time for people, treating clients and staff with respect…”

Paul Chuck time to try something else,” Ron said. There’s no denying Ron got into the game at almost the perfect time.

He quickly obtained his salesman licence and hit the ground running – right into the boom times of the early 1970s when Gough Whitlam was Prime Minister.

“Wages skyrocketed and people were buying,” Ron said. It remained the most lucrative period in Ron’s time in real estate. “We were working seven days a week – it was hard work.”

When Miss Gebhardt retired, even though she continued to come into the office every day, Ron and colleague Don Forbes, who had joined the operation in the mid 70s, took over the reins and worked side by side until Don left in 1997.

In the early days Ron was doing his own settlements and by the time he stepped away the innovations including mobile phones, computers and the internet had transformed the industry. “Things changed dramatically when mobile phones came in,” Ron said.

“You could be contacted all the time if someone wanted to look at a property and you didn’t have to keep coming back to the office to check things – it is definitely more efficient.”

Ron’s standing in the community was no better demonstrated than at last week’s memorial when, surrounded by family, people from all walks of life turned out to celebrate his life.