Rod Oxley loved Wollongong, and we owe him thanks for what he did for this city

Rod Oxley was all that and more in his 74 years on this earth.

Born in 1947, Oxley came from a working class background steeped in Wollongong history. His father, and grandfather, were both miners who hailed from Mt Kembla, while his mother was a virtual blow-in, having come from a farming family in the Southern Tablelands.

In his 2009 memoir, Named and Shamed, Oxley described 1950s Wollongong as an "enjoyable place to spend a childhood" and reminisced about his time at Wollongong High School, where he was a keen sportsman and a member of the army cadet unit.

However, he said the Wollongong he knew back then - still largely operating with that "country town" feeling - was far simpler than the 21^st century city it has become.

Still, while others left the coast for the bright lights of Sydney, Oxley knew Wollongong would forever be his home, saying he never felt any pressure to leave the area.

"At that time, Wollongong had a lot going for it," he said, recalling fondly the influx of immigrants to the steelworks that turned the city from a predominantly Anglo-Saxon community to the multicultural place it is today.

Oxley eschewed the family trade of mining, instead choosing a career in accountancy after discovering he had a head for numbers.

But he recalled watching the controversial but popular 1970s show Number 96 on TV each week, in which one of the characters was known as the "TC at the TH" - "the Town Clerk at the Town Hall".

Oxley remembered telling everyone jokingly, "that's what I'm going to be one day".

Some 10 years later, that's exactly what he did. Oxley began his career at Wollongong City Council in 1980 in the treasury department. By 1988 he was the general manager - the modern day equivalent to the "town clerk".

His 20-year tenure was not without its controversies, even before the ICAC inquiry that led to the sacking of the council and Oxley's resignation as general manager.

But one thing is for certain, Wollongong owes much of its current prosperity to Oxley's vision for the city.

Thank you for your service, Rod.