Residents will be able to pay their respects as Sutherland Shire 'great' Michael Tynan is farewelled

Residents will have an opportunity to pay their respects during what could be the biggest funeral held in the shire in decades.

A service will take place at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Miranda, at 10.30am.

The cortege will travel past each of the Tynan Motors locations, including dealerships, service centre and vehicle holding yard, from Miranda through Taren Point, Kirrawee and Sutherland.

It will continue past Sutherland Shire Council chambers, where Mr Tynan served as a councillor, including four terms as president, for 18 years, before reaching Woronora Cemetery.

The Tynan family has been overwhelmed by messages of condolence and request, instead of flowers, consideration be given to a donation to either the St George and Sutherland Shire Medical Research Foundation or Calvary Hospital.

THE TYNAN APPROACH; WORK HARD AND YOU WILL SUCCEED

​There were many facets to the life of motor industry “giant” and former Sutherland Shire president Michael Tynan, which have become better known since his death at 80.

FAMILY MAN

Michael Tynan was devoted to his close-knit family.

The private lives of he and his wife Annette and their children Francene, Kieran, Madeline, Daniel and Claire have remained just that.

Annette Tynan was involved in the motor business, but is successful in her own right in another field, running a cattle breeding business in Wagga Wagga.

The Tynan children were given an early introduction to the motor industry, washing cars in their younger years and later working in various roles in the business.

Kieran, Madeline and Daniel took key management roles in planned succession, and Ms Tynan’s sons became the third generation of the family to join the business.

After Tynan Motors was admitted to the Family Business Australia Hall of Fame in 2013, Madeline Tynan said, ‘‘We wouldn’t be where we are if we didn’t have Mum and Dad — my parents have taught us how to work hard and succeed.’’

Mr Tynan placed family life ahead of a more prestigious position in the NRMA.

He said being president would mean having to attend dinners and other engagements and ‘‘I like to do my work and go home’’.

COMMUNITY

Michael Tynan started at Marist Brothers High School, as the college was then known, in fourth class after attending St Patrick’s Primary School Kogarah.

In an interview for the college’s centenary in 2007, he said the best part of moving to an all-boys school, as it was then, was ‘‘getting away from the girls’’.

‘‘To be with all the guys, and [play] footy and all the different games, that was the exciting part,’’ he said.

The value Mr Tynan placed on sport was evident from the many sporting groups and events sponsored by his company as part of wide-ranging community support.

The Leader-Tynan Honda Sportsstar of the Year awards, which started in 1975 and continued for nearly 40 years, was just one initiative.

Many other community organisations and charities were also supported.

Mr Tynan described his involvement over more than 35 years with Calvary Hospital and its national board as ‘‘‘one of the joys of my life’’.

He was also a board member of the Honda Foundation, which distributes funds to community groups, and was awarded Rotary’s Paul Harris medal for community service.

He spoke of the importance of community in one interview.

‘‘I know people say that we’re a very closeted mob out here in Sutherland Shire, and it’s probably right,’’ he said.

‘‘We try to engender in our staff a feeling for their community and that it’s not just about them; that they’ve got to put something back in.’’

SUTHERLAND SHIRE COUNCIL

Development of the Menai area, Cronulla mall and Sutherland Leisure Centre were among challenges Michael Tynan helped meet during his 18 years on Sutherland Shire Council, including four terms as president (mayor)..

A sister city relationship with Chuo-ku, Tokyo started with a friendship between him and mayor Yoshihide Yada.

‘‘Local Government offered me the opportunity to serve my community at the grass roots level, while also providing the challenge of reforming the then, local government system,’’ Mr Tynan said.

‘‘It was also an education in all aspects of community life and as a local government representative, I had the opportunity to help protect the interests of residents.

‘‘Humbly, I took this responsibility most seriously, studied council meeting papers with intensity and always tried to find a positive way forward.’’

After leaving the council, Mr Tynan continued to be highly influential at a political level and was the Liberal Party “patriarch” in the shire.

In 2013, he intervened to save general manager John Rayner, who was about to be dumped by Liberal councillors after seeking a contract extension.

MOTOR INDUSTRY

Chairman of the Australian Automotive Dealer Association, Terry Keating, said Mr Tynan was’’ a very skilled and successful businessman’’.

‘‘That the industry was good to Michael goes without saying, but what I think separated him from most was his desire and ability to give something back,’’ Mr Keating said.

‘‘No doubt Michael was inspired as a younger man by those who did likewise and certainly he repaid the entire industry by serving in many ways to make it a better place for succeeding participants, many of whom probably have no idea the debt of gratitude they owe him.’’

Mr Keating said Mr Tynan served as president of the Motor Traders Association of NSW (MTA) for about five years in the early 2000s.

‘‘As one who had preceded him, I have some appreciation of the time and effort he would have devoted to that organisation,’’ he said.

‘‘Indeed, much of his time there would have spent helping and lobbying for members of the motor industry who were NOT new car dealers and were often enough business competitors of his.

‘‘Such was his desire to make the whole industry not only a better place to do business but also a better place for the consumer as well.

‘‘Much of MTA’s efforts were directed to self regulation to demonstrate that all of us in the industry needed to lift our perceived reputation and to embrace a much higher level of business ethics.’’

Mr Keating said, in more recent times, the new car dealers of Australia formed a new peak body to represent themselves at a national level.

‘‘Michael was at the forefront of the formation of the new AADA (Australian Automotive Dealer Association),’’ he said.

‘‘He was the inaugural NSW director on its board in 2012, and served for about a year before standing down, I suspect due to impending health issues.

‘‘At our 2014 annual conference, held on the Gold Coast, we recognised Michael’s enormous contributions to our industry with a special award.

‘‘His entire immediate family were all there to enjoy the moment with him.’’

TYNAN MOTORS

Michael Tynan used to say 80 per cent of shire residents driving a new car bought it from one of his dealerships.

He was proud of the loyalty of customers, saying some had bought 30 or so cars from Tynans.

Mr Tynan started his business in 1966 as ‘‘baby boomers’’ were hitting the road.

Despite selling the largely unknown Japanese-made Mazda brand, the business grew quickly, and he gained the Honda franchise in 1971 and Subaru franchise in 1976.

Today, the company’s brands include Honda, Subaru, Kia, Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Mercedes Benz.

The loss of the Mazda franchise in 2001, for reasons which Mr Tynan rejected as false and led to a financial settlement being made to his company, was his biggest disappointment in business.

In 2013, Tynan Motors was inducted into the Family Business Australia (FBA) Hall of Fame.

FBA chief executive Philippa Taylor said the company exemplified the family business spirit and long-term contribution to the state’s economy, community and culture.

Mr Tynan said in an interview with The CEO Magazine Australia was one of the most competitive automotive markets in the world.

‘‘There are 64 different brands and a myriad of models within each of those brands, so there’s an enormous amount of choice,’’ he said.

‘‘We have constant competition every time we open the door.

‘‘We recognise that we must position our company as a dealership of choice by the model of mutual respect.’’

Mr Tynan said his company was ‘‘attuned to our local community’’.

‘‘We’ve got to look after the area that we’re given by the manufacturer, and I think we do a pretty good job,’’ he said.

‘‘We’re very attuned to our area; we hate losing a deal from our own area.

‘‘We are quite passionate about that.

‘‘Our market penetration in Sutherland Shire for each of our products is more than 80 per cent.

‘‘We are always working to represent those brands.

‘‘For every Honda that’s sold in our area, we sell 89 per cent of them.

‘‘It’s an incredible record.’’

NRMA

Michael Tynan was a director of the NRMA from 2003 -2015, representing the region of Hoddle, which covers St George, the shire and Illawarra.

In 2005, he was elected deputy to new president Alan Evans.

During Mr Tynan’s nine years as deputy president and chairman of the  finance committee, there was a huge turnaround in the NRMA’s financial position.

Mr Tynan said the organisation was so divided by faction-fighting when he joined the board,  ‘‘I thought I had walked into a lunatic asylum’’.

‘‘At the first board meeting, directors were told that the association was heading for $100 million loss in 2002-2003,’’ he said.

Mr Tynan said not all the decisions taken by the new board were easy or popular, but by making the tough calls early they had secured the NRMA’s future and ensured road service patrols would continue for generations to come.

During his term, government funding was secured for major road improvements in Sydney’s south and the Illawarra.

Flashing lights in all school zones were another achievement.

After he campaigned outside Woolooware High School, the state government agreed to roll out high visibility school zone signs across the state.

When he stepped down as deputy president, then president Wendy Machin said Mr Tynan was ‘‘a giant of the NRMA’’ and ‘‘a beacon of leadership’’

F6 EXTENSION

A long-time advocate of completing the F6 (M1) motorway, Michael Tynan used his position on the NRMA board to further the cause.

Motorists were surveyed, a cost study commissioned and he assembled a task force of political, motoring, business, council, tourism and university representatives to lobby the government.

In 2011, he  feared a new batch of shire Liberal MPs had ‘‘gone soft’’ on the project and said he ‘‘giving them a rev-up’’.

Two years later, he said state budget funding of $1 million for planning the project was ‘‘an embarrassment’’.

He was happier the following year when a $11 million feasibility study was announced.