FEBRUARY 04 Keith
James Farrell THE man who named the Al-ley surf spot at Currumbin, Keith Farrell of Tugun, has died suddenly, aged 76. Born at Coolan-gatta, Keith and his mate Robert Neumann, who became Gold Coast Mayor, were among the first board riders to surf the area immediately north of Currumbin Rock, in the late 1940s, when there were no shark nets. Keith and Robert often saw sharks cruising in the water, leading to Keith calling the spot Shark Alley, later known as Currumbin Alley. He was educated at St Au-gustine's Convent at Coolan-gatta and the five-kilometre walk from Tugun took him one hour and in that time maybe six or eight cars would be on the high way. Quite different to today's no-torious Tugun traffic conges-tion. Keith's grandparents were the first white people to set-tle in the Tugun area and for several years were the only family between Coolangatta and Currumbin. Keith lived all his life with-in 1000 metres of the family's original slab built home. In 1919 Jim Farrell, Keith's father, became the first vice-captain of Currumbin Beach Surf Life Saving Club when it was formed. Thirty-five years later Keith also became vice-captain of the club and had many years of association with the club. After primary school, Keith attended Nudgee College in 1941 and completed senior in 1943. He joined the family's haul-age and earthmoving busi-ness. The Farrells handled raw material from the Cur-rumbin rutile sand mine, lat-er joining the Neumann fami-ly in purchasing the mine leases and treatment plant. For a period of 10 years, Keith acted as chairman of directors of the re-named company Currumbin Miner-als. Keith levelled the site for the Tweed Heads Bowls Club, using the fill to prepare-the ground for the Beachcomber Motel. He also played a lead-ing part in clearing and lev-elling the site of the sports complex at Salk Oval at Palm Beach. .He was involved in property development after retiring at age 50 and had been married for 32 years to wife Ber-yl. They had no children. Keith, known for his sense of humour, died from a heart attack on 17th January 2004. Eternal
rest grant unto him O Lord,
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