Published on Monday, 22 September 2025 at 11:36:42 AM
Stan Gratte
Stan Gratte was born in Northam on the 25th of June 1930, before moving to Geraldton in 1935. He attended Geraldton Primary School and Geraldton High School. He worked as a photographer with Gilda Studios, a salesman of radios and bicycles at Youngs Motors and a kangaroo and goat shooter, before being employed as Western Australia’s youngest railway driver at just twenty-three. Whilst still working as an engine driver, Stan began growing tomatoes for a time, then moved to raising poultry. Upon leaving the Railways, he expanded his poultry business to two farms and became known as the “Chook Doctor”.
Stan has been instrumental in recording local and aboriginal history and the establishment of the Greenough Pioneer Museum in 1970 and the Walkaway Museum in 1972. In 2009, Stan was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to the community through the Geraldton Historical Society and continues to be active in several groups. Stan was made a Paul Harris Fellow by the Geraldton North Rotary Club for organising wonderful events for the elderly which could not have been achieved without his beautiful and hard-working wife Joy Gratte (nee Criddle). Stan Gratte has authored many books about the Midwest area and his own travels and adventures, which can be purchased at the Geraldton Regional Library.
Ben Marsh
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