Vale - Harold Kratz OAM | Lower Clarence Rowing Club

Rowing NSW is saddened to learn of the passing of Harold Kratz OAM.  Harold passed away peacefully on Wednesday evening, aged 96 years. 

Harold Kratz’s involvement with Rowing began in 1948 as a competitor with Maclean Rowing Club (now Lower Clarence Amateur Rowing and Sculling Club). The Club has bestowed Life Membership upon Harold for his significant and long lasting contribution having served on the committee for well over a decade, carried out almost all boat maintenance at the club since the 1970’s and having been heavily involved the construction and maintenance of the clubhouse – all in a volunteer capacity.

A lifelong immersion with rowing saw him compete past his 87^th birthday – racing alongside his wife Hazel, who predeceased him - at the Australian Masters Rowing Championships in Adelaide in 2014 inspiring younger generations of rowers to stay fit, keep active and continue enjoying the sport.

Even into his early and mid-nineties, Harold continued to coach junior rowers on the Clarence River where has an immense record of producing fine young scullers with a strong work ethic and a humble, down to earth attitude that sets them up well for not only their rowing careers but life after their competition days have passed.

Harold’s enviable record includes winning 5 National Championships as a coach or co-coach between 2006 and 2010. Between 2008 and 2011, he coached Rachael See, Riley Elvery and Leah Saunders onto Australian teams to compete at the World Junior Rowing Championships, with Leah Saunders having gone on to a successful career in the Australian Senior Team winning medals 2018 and 2019 World Championships.

He has provided his expertise as a volunteer coach for close to 5 decades and was awarded Life Membership of New South Wales Combined High Schools Sport Association – Rowing, for his dedication to coaching hundreds of rowers from Maclean High School. From 1984 to 2020, Maclean High School had recorded at least one win at every annual NSW Combined High Schools Championship Regatta.  During this period Maclean High School won the Combined High Schools Girls Pointscore 7 times; the Boys Pointscore 2 times; and won the title of Champion School 11 times with many of these scullers and crews having been coached by Harold. 

Harold has also worked as a satellite coach with the North Coast Academy of Sport since its inception in the early part of this century coaching regularly at academy camps as well as mentoring other rowing coaches for more than 20 years.

His enormous contribution to the sport was acknowledged when Harold was the recipient of the Rusty Robertson MBE Award from Rowing NSW in season 2010-2011 which is “awarded to an individual or group of individuals who have made a significant and sustained contribution to the endeavours and objects of the Association.”  Harold is pictured below receiving the award from President, Norma Perry.

The NSW Union of Rowers have recognised Harold’s considerable impact on the sport in awarding him the Master of the Year Award for his “outstanding contribution to Masters rowing and his dedication to the ideals of the sport over the decades.”

Harold was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for service to rowing. 

The sport is grateful for the enormous contribution made by Harold and we, along with the hundreds of rowers who learned plenty from him, will miss him dearly.  Our thoughts are with his family: children Robert and Margaret, Peter, Murray and David; grandfather of six, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather to their families.

A service and wake to celebrate Harold’s life will be held at The River Room (former RSL building), Maclean at 2pm on Saturday 12^th August 2023.