Parramatta Marist alumni: Philip Khoury, Jeff McMullen, share memories of school
It’s the western Sydney high school that’s produced an alumni that has made waves in sport, hospitality, medicine and the performing arts. High achievers share their memories.
Parramatta
Don't miss out on the headlines from Parramatta . Followed categories will be added to My News.
It’s the western Sydney high school with an alumni that has made waves in sport, hospitality, medicine and the arts.
Luminaries such as Aussie actor and icon Paul Hogan, Olympic gold medallist John Devitt (who happened to be Hogan’s brother-in-law) and gifted surgeon, the late Professor Chris O’Brien, attended the 205-year-old Parramatta Marist.
From its foundation years it has produced notable citizens including Stan Wickham, who attended the school between 1882 and 1886 and was a pioneer of Australian rugby union.
He played with The Two Blues and NSW before representing Australia with the Wallabies in 1903.
Former Eels player and boss Denis Fitzgerald – the “Emperor of Parramatta” – was also a proud product of Marist.
While it long held a reputation as a rugby league school, its graduates have transcended fields as diverse as academia, media and the performing arts.
Some of the Marist share their memories of the schoolyard.
Philip Khoury, class of 2007
If you visited the fabled Harrods food hall in London over the past few years, many of the award-winning creations were the work of head chef Philip Khoury.
Not only has he made it to the storied kitchen of the British landmark but the former Oatlands dweller has pioneered a range of delicious vegan desserts to put his sweet but healthier stamp on the bougie treats as a plant-based pastry chef.
The author of “A New Way to Bake: Re-imagined Recipes for Plant-based Cakes, Bakes and Desserts” said he believed he would end up as a designer or an architect growing up.
“When I was baking as a younger person it’s just something that I loved doing, I didn’t think that you could earn enough money from it,’’ he said.
“To be honest for many years I would never say being a pastry chef is going to be a well paying job but you can have a really fulfilling life doing something you love and I think that was a big takeaway.’’
Khoury, 34, also honed his skills at Quay and with Adriano Zumbo.
At high school, Khoury was an “old soul” who was an “an anxious teenager wanting to be an adult”.
“I think I was more friendly with my teachers than I was with my fellow classmates,’’ he said.
“I was always that kid that wanted to be an adult. I was like 13 going on 30 and I would hang out with my teachers during the lunch break but I had a nice group of friends.’’
As a child, he grew up like many Aussie kids tucking into a cake from the local bakery at the Emma Cres shops at Constitution Hill.
“My mum would take us to the park and some of my earliest memories are of playing in that park next to the bakery … and always picking up a treat, a custard tart,” he said.
At Harrods, Khoury was responsible for whipping up the irresistible delicacies for Brits, millions of tourists and some of the world’s biggest stars – such as Elton John – who live around the corner from the store.
He is working on a second book and, after recently leaving Harrods, is consulting and teaching at London’s Le Cordon Bleu as well as in India, Dubai and the Netherlands and a trip home to Australia where a visit to his old TAFE at Ryde could be on the cards.
Jeff McMullen, class of 1964
Before he became an intrepid and accomplished reporter covering conflicts and interviewing world leaders with Four Corners and 60 Minutes, Jeff McMullen was relishing a happy childhood at Parramatta and attending Marist when it was still on Victoria Rd.
It was post-war Parramatta and a couple of decades before the Eels glory years but football was inescapable at the school.
“The real religion was rugby league and I feel we all greatly enjoyed that,’’ McMullen, 77, said.
“It didn’t have much too much to do with catechism.
“It was an era when the Parramatta professional grade team was not winning much at all but the juniors played in teams that were very skilful. Whether you were a big or small man didn’t matter because they were weight-for-age teams and I think just about every kid, unless you were hopeless, had a run.
“It was part of the school ethic that you had a crack and that’s what I mean by the community spirit.’’
McMullen graduated in the class of 1964 after spending some years with his family in Malaya where his dad was posted with the air force in the early 1960s.
Many of his peers, including friend Dr Graham Malouf, were the sons of migrants.
“Kids were coming from Italy and Poland, and Greece first of all, and then many children whose families came from Asia,’’ he said.
“It was part of the happiest spirit of Parramatta. It was the foundational years of the post war migration and the newer, more recent migration that has helped make Parramatta a wonderful city, and those schools were very encouraging of that.
“I don’t remember any racism at the school, and I think that’s a credit to the ethics of the teachers, and probably our families who all got on so well.
“It was not elitist, it was very multicultural.’’
The former foreign correspondent fondly recalls performing in a band with Malouf at Parramatta Town Hall. Malouf’s large Lebanese-Australian family helped to secure a prize based on their loud applause.
“I do not consider my musical talents anything impressive but Graham was very slick on the piano,’’ McMullen said.
He did, however, excel at debating with public speaking proving helpful for his chosen career.
“The Parramatta years debating was a great help for me and I never imagined it would lead me into journalism, but with some of the dear friends of that time – Dennis Bishop, who’s now passed away, and Chris Jurd, who’s now passed away – we managed to win the Catholic Schools debating competition in immediate certificate year,” he said.
McMullen grew up in Gore St, Parramatta, with his brothers David and Ronald – both his “lifelong friends” who have died.
Away from school, adventures took them to crafting tin boats along the Parramatta River and swimming at Little Coogee.
He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2006 for service to journalism and for raising awareness of economic, social and human rights issues.
He is the director of the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience and the honorary chief executive of the Ian Thorpe Foundation for Youth for promoting early learning programs among indigenous youth.
Anthony Schembri, class of 1988
The Australia Medal recipient began at the junior school in 1981 and graduated after completing his HSC in 1988.
Like many students, Schembri was an “old boy” and his maternal grandfather Cecil Arthur Smith graduated from Marist in 1924.
Schembri, who is the chief executive of the Northern Sydney Local Health District, remembers his Year 7 homeroom teacher, Mr Nobin, as a stable caring mentor.
“Mr Nobin’s wicked sense of humour endeared me to him but it was also evident that he understood not all of us were gifted sportsmen, but we all had our own unique talents and gifts,’’ he wrote in the Parramatta Marist 2020 year book.
“I was never a sporty kid, which presented a few challenges in such a sports excellence school, but this was negated by the bonds I had formed with like-minded friends and my best mate Adam Pierce and I would often attempt every trick in the book to get out of sport, without success.’’
Cherished memories included having his mum volunteer at the tuckshop so vanilla slices, sausage roll stuffed into a bread roll and Sunnyboy ice blocks were guaranteed – which also helped cement his popularity among his best mates.
He loved studying French and fondly recalled his teacher Mr Ward organising excursions to the French Film Festival and restaurants to flex their skills.
He found his passion for debating and Friday nights were spent competing with other schools across Sydney.
He advanced his skills into the Catholic Schools competition, which led to a win in Year 12.
“The skills, confidence and interest in debating and public speaking would serve me well in my future career as a university student politician and then in my volunteer work, and later in my professional life, where public speaking became an essential part of my daily role,’’ he said.
Schembri studied a Bachelor of Social Work (honours) at the University of NSW and also obtained a Certificate in Health and Human Rights at the Harvard University’s School of Public Health.
He has since worked in hospital administration and was announced as the chief executive of the St Vincent’s Health Network. He has also sat on the board of multiple medical organisations including the Garvan Institution of Medical Research and is the Associate Professor of the St Vincent’s Clinical School of the Faculty of Medicine at UNSW.
He was named as a member of the Order of Australia in 2019 for significant service to medical research and hospital administration.
Professor Chris Maher, class of 1978
One of the world’s leading experts on back pain first started excelling in the classrooms of Parramatta Marist long before his research was recognised internationally.
The Sydney University’s School of Public Health professor, who is also the Institute for Musculosketal Health’s co-director, grew up in Baulkham Hills and started at Marist junior school in 1971 as a Year 5 student.
One of his mates was Australian cricketer Pat Cummins’ father, Peter, who he also recalls as an outstanding cricketer.
Maher enjoyed his time at the school.
“I guess I was academically aligned partly because of the challenge of academia. I thought it was a friendly school,’’ he said.
“We used to swim at the school and I think they were carefree compared to these days.’’
The 50m swimming pool with the diving board is long gone, as is the showground across the road. In its place is Westmead Hospital which opened in November 1978, the year Maher graduated.
Maher, whose relatives also attended the school, returned to Westmead when he worked at the hospital for a year early in his career as a physiotherapist.
Last year the Epping man was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia on Australia Day in recognition for his significant service to physiotherapy as a researcher, clinician and mentor, particularly in the field of pain management.
He has been recognised internationally for his research that has changed how back pain is managed; and for championing evidence-based physiotherapy globally.
Among the research was the “ineffectiveness and potential harms” of traditional approaches to back pain management.
With colleagues he established the physiotherapy evidence database (PEDro), available in 17 languages, which attracts over four million users each year from more than 200 countries.
He has published 900 research articles.
“In my field I lead the world in international back pain research,’’ he said.
Maher also lectures 300 medical students at a time and favours research over clinical work.
“Research helps lots of people,’’ he said.
“I guess I have a bigger sphere of influence.’’
The National Health and Medical Research Council investigator fellow joined the University of Sydney in 1990 where he taught in its physiotherapy, exercise and sports science, medical, nursing, pharmacy and public health programs.
He served as an Associate Dean for research students at the university from 2002 to 2005. Maher was the founding Director of the Musculoskeletal Division at the George Institute for Global Health from 2008 to 2017.
James Boyer, class of 2003
Marist has produced Olympians such as John Devitt but former students such as James Boyer have ensured the sports played on the world’s biggest stage run smoothly on the sidelines.
Boyer – the school captain from the class of 2003 – officiated the Paris Olympics basketball matches in July after making his debut in Tokyo in 2021.
Boyer enjoyed playing basketball but when he was just 14 knew he wanted to become a referee and decided to focus his attention on officiating games instead of practising his dribbling and shooting skills.
“As a 16 year old I remember having a planning session with someone and they dared me to have a dream goal to go to the Olympics and you think ‘whatever, that’s foolish’ but there’s no harm in writing it down,’’ he recalled.
He conceded it was “not very cool to be a referee” but he stuck at the whistleblowing.
“People say ‘what do you do that for?’ and you say ‘I don’t know, maybe one day I’ll go to the Olympics’,” he said.
Boyer grew up in Greystanes and played for the Parramatta Wildcats.
“I’m very proud of my roots coming from that club and I think they’re very proud of me as well,’’ he said.
At school he recounted the proud moment of defeating St Dominic’s Penrith – a side that was undefeated all year – in the final.
Boyer was ambitious from a young age and remembers returning home from school after his first day of Year 7 and confidently telling his father he could be the school captain.
“That wasn’t in a confident or cocky way but it was something I could aspire to,’’ he said.
“It was a really great school. I really, really enjoyed my time there, there were excellent teachers, really supportive.
“They celebrated things really well. I’ll never forget our graduation and the big celebration that was. The school was so proud of us and they celebrated everybody’s achievements and that was a really fun time to look back on.’’
Boyer also believes the school was ahead of its time when it came to boys’ education.
“I think just learning how to be a man in society and what it means to be a man – it was really strong and important. I think they were a bit ahead of their times in that and now masculinity and what it means is a lot more prevalent.’’
Paul Gallen, class of 1999
The NRL star was a Year 7 student at Newman High at Greystanes (now known as St Paul’s College) in 1994 but Parramatta Marist and its well-known rugby league program beckoned.
Mark Perry – the father of Australian cricketer Ellyse Perry – ran the rugby league program at Marist and played touch footy with Gallen’s dad so got the ball rolling for him to join the school.
A year later he started Year 8 and never looked back.
Mr Melham, “a character”, was his homeroom teacher from years 8 to 12.
Gallen joined the school the year the senior students claimed the Commonwealth Bank Cup competition and flourished in the second row.
Four years later, in 1999, Gallen’s star-studded schoolboys cup side – featuring Jamie Lyon, Daniel Irvine, Chad Robinson, Jason Cayless and Brett Sargent – fell short of victory but Gallen fondly recalls walloping Terra Sancta by 40 points in the Metropolitan Catholic Colleges Sports Association final.
Gallen, who captained Cronulla to its first premiership in 2016, also had a knack for practical subjects.
“I liked woodwork,’’ he said.
“I remember I built a coffee table and I had it in the house for at least 10 years.’’
Now 43, he admits he “probably wasn’t the best at school” but the footy-obsessed staff allowed some flexibility for talented rugby league players.
That’s not to say there was no structure.
“I know we were there for rugby league but it was very disciplined and academic, and I was very grateful to be there,” he said.
“It was great. I had the time of my life. I didn’t realise it at the time. We didn’t have a lot of responsibility and your parents are looking after you.’’
Gallen, now a father of four children aged between seven and 16, was a Wentworthville and Parramatta Eels junior but signed with Cronulla in 1999 and led them to their first premiership in 2016.
He spent 19 years at the club and was the NSW Blues skipper when they snapped Queensland’s eight-year reign in 2014.
The Kangaroo retired from the NRL at the end of 2019 and took up furthering his professional boxing career.
He is now a retired athlete and is a rugby league commentator with Channel 9.
Ricky Rojas, class of 1997
Rojas has had a stratospheric rise since performing at Marist’s school gym and stage, the Morley Centre, where he was a standout in musicals.
The productions were all part of his training for gracing the world’s best stages from New York’s Broadway to London’s West End as an actor and flexing his talents as a singer-songwriter.
Rojas grew up in Blacktown, Toongabbie and Winston Hills after his family migrated from Chile in 1985 and graduated from Parramatta Marist in 1997.
During school, he scored prominent roles in school musicals Fiddler on the Roof, Bye Bye Birdie and the Pirates of Penzance.
“I had the best time at school,’’ he previously said in 2020.
“I just remember it being great because they were quite supportive of the arts with musicals and dramas and I was playing trombone and was in all the school musicals. I did drama as a HSC elective.’’
Known as Ricky “The Voice” Rojas, the tenor credited his drama teacher Paul Addison for helping his talents flourish.
The 45 year old scored one of his first professional productions Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story from 2001 when he starred as Richie Valens before performing abroad in a string of classics including Burn the Floor and Moulin Rouge.
Luke Ford, class of 1999
It’s probably a solid bet to say the talented actor enjoyed the annual musical with sister school Catherine McAuley during his school years.
The 1999 graduate’s acting career began with roles in Home and Away and All Saints but Hollywood beckoned for the former Winston Hills Hotel worker who appeared alongside Brendan Fraser in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
He also appeared with fellow western Sydney product Toni Collette in The Black Balloon where he portrayed autistic boy Charlie in 2008, three years before he took up a role in Aussie film Red Dog in 2011.
Student’s side hustle selling fake designer brands, drugs unravels
A Western Sydney university student, with a side hustle as a counterfeit goods rip off merchant and drug supplier, turned to crime to live up to cultural pressures to make a quick buck, a court has heard.
‘Biggest insult’: Mum slams cemetery’s ‘insensitive’ clean up
A heartbroken mother has questioned why Australia’s largest cemetery has banned grieving families from adorning their children’s graves and stripped them bare of tributes.