BY PETER JOHNSON CBE

TO MANY PEOPLE he was just Dieter. Perhaps most did not know his surname; but some loved, most were fond of and all respected him and acknowledged his helpful ways and engineering skills. We are the richer for having known him; the poorer for his passing.

Dieter was my very good friend for over 30 years. His sudden and totally unexpected death has been devastating. It is certain that last Saturday Dieter had no intimation that his time was running out.

He died mercifully quickly and painlessly after collapsing whilst playing on the Wewak golf course. As his friend Steve Taylor said, “He was where he liked to be, and doing what he liked best to do!”

Dieter Erich Paul Idzikowsky was born on 23 February 1938 at Grunberg-Schlesien, Germany, shortly before the outbreak of WWII. After leaving school he served an apprenticeship as a toolmaker and motor mechanic. He then served for a brief period in the army.

Life was not easy for the Idzikowsky family in Russian occupied East Germany, and in 1956 Dieter, moved to West Germany where he worked as a motor mechanic. Then, in 1963, Dieter, with his younger brothers, Klaus and Peter, emigrated to find a new and more rewarding life in Australia.

In 1970 Dieter came to PNG to help his brother Klaus, who had established Pedford Constructions, a civil engineering company engaged in road building and maintenance in the Lumi/Nuku area of the Sepik District.

Following the sale of Pedford Construction and departure of Klaus from PNG, Dieter worked for the Sepik Coffee Producers Association, managing the large workshop at Maprik, then for Sepik Coffee/Sepik Construction in Wewak.

It was Dieter’s great desire to become a PNG citizen and he held a glowing recommendation from Sir Michael Somare, a friend and golfing partner. Unfortunately the timing was wrong and no citizenship committee meetings took place for some years, so Dieter decided reluctantly to leave New Guinea to meet the residency requirements for Australian citizenship.

Dieter married his bride and long-time partner, Priscilla, in Cairns in 2003. And awaiting naturalisation, he worked in Cairns for English Engineering from 2004-06 as training manager. Mr English constantly tried to lure Dieter back to his job in Cairns.

Immediately following his naturalisation, Dieter volunteered for work as manager of the Bishop of Wewak’s mechanical workshop which he has brought from chaos to good order.

Dieter in his day was a fine sportsman, playing top grade soccer with Perth United and boxing to Commonwealth Games standard. He showed his sporting endurance by twice appearing at the Sepik Ironman Challenge as a swimmer and oldest competitor. 

Dieter not only took part in events, but also took major responsibility for organising and promoting them. He was a founder member and life member of the golf and yacht clubs, vice-president of the former and commodore of the latter for eleven years. He was deeply distressed at the alien and deceitful manner in which this position was usurped – the long term result of which is only too obvious today!

Dieter was a genuinely honourable man who spoke his mind, and spoke the truth. (He also spoke four languages.) He disliked falsehood and sophistry. To declare a false golf score or engage in shonky business deals would be complete anathema to him. He deplored such traits in others.

Dieter was a humble, decent, hard-working and life-loving man, a good friend to many; a wonderful friend to me, for which I give thanks.

I offer sincere condolences to his young widow, Priscilla, to all his relatives and friends and to the people of the East and West Sepik Provinces whose lives he touched in some greater or lesser way.

Dieter Erich Paul Idzikowsky:   23 February 1938 – 22 January 2011

Main photo: Dieter [left] with Peter Johnson, Sepik Iron Man Contest 2009