by Helen Brinkman
Hedley Scholz credits dairy farming for giving him his strong voice. To be more precise he says it’s a credit to the cows and the working dogs which herded them.
‘I think God has blessed me with a strong voice, as I was a dairy farmer for 69 years and I had been shouting to the cows and dogs so much’, says Hedley.
It’s this upbringing that has established a voice perfect for lay reading, a service that Hedley has provided to his local Lutheran congregations for the past 70 years. That achievement was recognised in April by his fellow members at St John’s Lutheran Church, Eudunda, in South Australia’s Mid North.
Despite being set to turn 90 in August, Hedley’s strong voice still allows him to continue to serve as a lay reader. It’s a role that he began at age 20 at the Ascension Lutheran Church, Julia, SA. Over time, he has also helped out at other local Lutheran churches in the parish.
Hedley recalls travelling the nine miles (14.5 kilometres) from his home to Julia church on a cold Sunday morning one August with thick fog developing. Despite there being only three members in attendance for worship that day, Hedley didn’t shorten the service!
Born in 1934, the youngest of four siblings, Hedley was part of the fifth generation of the Scholz family in the region. His great-great-grandfather, Johann Gottfried Scholz, was born in Silesia in 1805 in present-day Germany and migrated to South Australia in 1845.
Johann settled at Light Pass in the Barossa Valley and was known to walk the more than 40 miles (almost 70 kilometres) led by the light of the moon on a Saturday night to Klemzig in Adelaide. There he would attend church services led by Pastor August Kavel – which were known to last for hours – before returning home again on foot.
Hedley has documented the lives of seven generations of the Scholz family in a book called The Diaries of the Scholz’s of Buchanan. His second book, The Hundred of Julia Creek, informs the reader of the struggles his forebears faced, living through droughts, dust storms, fires, floods, depression and isolation.
Hedley’s third book, entitled The Pioneers of the Sutherlands Area, recounts the lives of some of the first German and English emigrants to arrive in South Australia in 1838.
Hedley’s interests have also extended to membership of his local Returned and Services League (RSL) and Gideons International.
A heart problem caused Hedley to miss marching in this year’s Anzac Day march, from the local cenotaph to the Eudunda RSL club.
However, it has not stopped him driving around his area witnessing at local schools and churches for the past 16 years, through his promotion of the work of the Gideons. This gives Hedley an opportunity to provide New Testaments to secondary school students and share stories of people who have been touched by God’s word.
‘I go with God’s help and always pray that the students will accept a New Testament because it is not compulsory that they take one’, he says.
In August 2023, Hedley celebrated 60 years of married life with wife Joy (nee Materne), their two sons David and Michael and their families, including five grandchildren.
When reminiscing on what has guided nearly 90 years of life, Hedley shares that one of his favourite Bible verses is Psalm 119:105 – ‘Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path’ (KJV).
Hedley says: ‘God’s word has been my guide in life. It offers direction, correction and forgiveness. His word helps me see right from wrong.
‘The world leads us the wrong way, God’s word shows us a forgiving God and the way to eternal life.’
