Past Curators and Trustees

The longest serving Curator (besides Miss Pink herself) of the Olive Pink Botanic Garden was Clarry Smith, who held the position from 1990 until he passed away in 2006. Clarry and his late wife, Frances, contributed significantly to the development of the Garden.

Their enthusiasm and passion for the Garden is evident in many of the projects that they were involved in. Clarry was a very hands-on Curator and developed and maintained a lot of the existing infrastructure in the Garden, and put a considerable amount of time into controlling introduced buffel grass on the grounds. Frances was particularly fond of native grasses and she cultivated many patches of native grasses around the Garden. Frances also created the children’s play area in the grounds, and there is currently a project underway to create a mosaic wall around the play area to celebrate the lives of Frances and Clarry.

Clarry Smith was Curator of Olive Pink Botanic Garden from 1990 until 2006. He was well loved and contributed hugely to the development of the Garden	The late John Blakeman MBE (seated) enjoying a conversation at the Garden with eminent central Australian botanist, Peter Latz

Other Curators at the Garden have included Merle and Keith Dick, John Sullivan, and Steve McAlpin.

There have been many wonderful people who have served voluntarily on the Olive Pink Botanic Garden Board of Trustees. The energy and skills of Trustees have contributed significantly to the development and growth of the Garden, and we are very grateful for all of their contributions.

One of the first Boards of Trustees was headed up by John Blakeman MBE, who was chair between 1980 and 1992 and was instrumental in developing many of the early plantings and the main infrastructure at the Garden. Several Board members in those early days were great friends of the late Miss Pink, including Reg Harris, Glen Hewitt and Tom Henshell.