Tom Parry
MAFFRA is mourning the loss of a much-beloved local identity.
World-renowned veterinarian and dairy farmer Jakob Malmo died on Friday, March 17 at the age of 83.
His funeral was held last Thursday afternoon (March 23) at the Maffra Football-Netball Club, with local resident Robert Noble being one of many to speak at the service.
He first knew Jakob – as the vet was known, and preferred to be known, by all – as a student two years ahead at school, before becoming “firm friends” as adults through a shared love of the dairy industry.
Speaking to the Gippsland Times, Mr Noble described Jakob as “a remarkable guy”.
“He never stopped learning – he had an absolute fixation with doing more and more,” Mr Noble said.
“A group of four of us went to the Australian Dairy Conference … in Tasmania last month, and the rest of the 600 people were sort of sitting back, taking (in) whatever information they could; Jakob’s on his computer recording it all!”
Jakob was born on May 6, 1939 to a Norwegian father and Australian mother.
His dad, Sigurd ‘Mally’ Malmo, was himself a renowned and respected vet who spent much of his working life in Maffra, covering a wide area from Mallacoota to Dandenong.
“I loved going out with my father, and it was always clear to me that I would be a vet just like him,” Jakob told the Gippsland Times in 2019.
After graduating from the University of Sydney in 1961, Jakob returned to the region and subsequently founded his own clinic, which today is known as the Maffra Veterinarian Centre.
While he attended to most animals as a vet, he had a particular interest in caring for dairy cattle.
Photo: Contributed
One of his colleagues was Dr Gerry Davis, who first met Jakob while studying at the University of Melbourne.
“Jakob was an external examiner – he used to come in and give oral exams to the students, and that’s when I met him,” Dr Davis said.
“I’d heard of him of course because, even though he was only in his late 30s at that stage, he was very well-renowned within the veterinary profession.
“At the end of that year, I was applying for jobs, and was lucky enough to get one at Maffra.
“And basically, I’ve been there my whole career, except for a year or two in the UK back in the 80s.”
Dr Davis retired from the Maffra Veterinary Centre in November 2019, about nine months after Jakob himself retired from the clinic.
For a time, the two worked in partnership at the centre; according to Mr Noble, Dr Davis was a “terrific support” for Jakob: “He was the glue in many ways.”
Dr Davis had nothing but praise for his mentor, colleague and friend.
“He’s one of those chaps that goes 21 hours a day – he can survive on about three hours’ sleep,” he said of Jakob’s work ethic.
“He’d never ask you to do anything he wouldn’t do, but he was go-go-go – he used to work from sunrise to sunset.”
Dr Davis said that Jakob leaves behind “a vast legacy”, acknowledging his work – in conjunction with Professor Douglas Blood – in founding the University of Melbourne’s Rural Veterinary Unit: “A lot of those tutors that went through Maffra are now the leaders, or have been leaders … in the cattle industry since those years.”
In 2013, Jakob was honoured with an Honorary Professorial Fellowship from the University of Melbourne; that same year, he also won the Australian Cattle Veterinarians’ group’s highest accolade: Bovine Practitioner of the Year.
Jakob’s many other accolades include, but are not limited to, an Officer of the Order of Australia medal, received in 1994; the highest honour from the Australian Veterinarian Association, the Gilruth Prize; and an appointment as councillor of the World Veterinary Association in 2009.
“I doubt there was anybody who had a bigger influence on the dairy industry, at least in Gippsland,” Mr Noble said.
“We won’t see the like of him again.”
In 2019, Jakob married for the second time following the death of his first wife, Jay, who passed away after being diagnosed with dementia.
He continued maintaining two dairy properties, in Tinamba and Boisdale, until his death.
He is survived by his second wife, Jeannie, her children and her grandchildren, and his sister, Margo.
