Mykolas Zakaras - Eleventh President

Mykolas Zakaras was born on 21 October 1909 at the Urniežiai farmstead in Dotnuva parish, Kėdainiai County, into the family of a prosperous farmer. The eldest of nine children, he grew up with five brothers and three sisters.

He attended primary school in Dotnuva before continuing his secondary education in Kėdainiai and Kaunas, including studies at the Pavasaris Higher Commercial School (Gymnasium). He later studied at the Institute of Trade in Klaipėda and also attended the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Vytautas Magnus University. He was unable to complete his university studies after the university was closed during the German occupation of Lithuania.

Mykolas completed his military service with the Sixth Squadron of the Lithuanian Military Aviation in Šiauliai, finishing his service with the rank of private. From 1938 to 1944, he worked as a bookkeeper at the electrical station in Telšiai. In addition to his native Lithuanian, he was fluent in German, Russian and Polish.

On 21 January 1942, Mykolas married at the Church of the Resurrection in Kaunas. A daughter was later born in Kaunas. In 1944, as Soviet forces reoccupied Lithuania, the family fled to Germany. Mykolas initially worked in a factory at Schwopnitz in Saxony and, from 1945, as a warehouse checker for the International Refugee Organization (IRO) in Hanau. Their son was born in Germany in 1945.

After the war, the family emigrated to Australia and eventually settled in the Sydney suburb of Kingsgrove. Mykolas worked hard in a glass factory, establishing a new life for his family and ensuring that his children received a good education. Once his children were older, he became increasingly involved in Sydney's Lithuanian community.

From 1961 to 1962, Mykolas served as Chairman of the Bankstown District Board. In 1963, he was elected to the Regional Board of the Australian Lithuanian Community (ALB). Following the death of the Regional Board Chairman, Stasys Narušis, in 1969, Mykolas briefly assumed the duties of Chairman. He also contributed to the establishment of the Bankstown Lithuanian House and remained active in the affairs of the local Lithuanian community.

In 1967, Mykolas joined the Sydney branch of the Lithuanian Veterans' Union Ramovė. He became an active and dedicated member, was frequently elected to the branch board and held a number of positions within the organisation. In recognition of his longstanding service and contribution to Lithuanian veterans, he was elected an honorary member of Ramovė on 20 May 1989.

Mykolas was also involved in Lithuanian sporting activities in Sydney and was recognised for his contribution to the Lithuanian sports club Kovas, which elected him an honorary member.

Mykolas Zakaras died on 16 August 1995. On 21 August, family, friends and members of the Lithuanian community accompanied him on his final journey to Rookwood Cemetery. At the graveside, Mindaugas Šumskas delivered a farewell address in which he recalled Mykolas's contribution to the establishment of the Bankstown Lithuanian House and his work within the Bankstown Lithuanian community. Juozas Dambrauskas also remembered his contribution to Lithuanian sporting life and the recognition he had received from Kovas.

The first Lithuanian to make an Australian basketball team

 Vytautas Šutas was born on 5 April 1925 in Dusetos.  He grew to over six foot, giving him an advantage in basketball, a sport he excelled in.  He began his basketball career in Lithuania.  At the end of WWII, with his parents and brother the family left for Germany. While in Displaced Persons Camps, he began to study medicine.  His free time was spent in the English zone playing with the Lithuanian basketball team. 

The family all came to Australia, there  first stop was the Bathurst migrant camp.  Here Vytas organised a basketball team. He later moved to Lithgow to work as a railway worker.  Shortly after he came to Lithgow Vytas, a keen sportsman, was camped at Wallerawang, where he was interviewed by the "Mercury."  During the interview he expressed the desire to lead a Balt basketball team, in social and competition matches against Lithgow teams and a "Mercury" representative immediately arranged for his introduction.  He began to train seriously a Lithuanian team called Sakalas (Signals).  He became Captain of the Lithgow basketball team in 1949 which contained three Balt migrants, himself, A Ramansauskas and V Ozols.

Later after moving to Sydney, he joined the Moore Park Club.  Vytas was chosen for the NSW team where he played as a forward. He later made the Australian combined team, where he elected as Captain.   He was the first Lithuanian to make the Australian basketball team.  He was known as a clever forward that rarely missed a goal. 

He was one of the original members of the Sydney Lithuanian sports club, Kovas. He is remembered as a great organizer.  He was a Kovas Club committee member for many years, captain of the basketball team and ALFAS (Australian Lithuanian Sports Federation) committee member.

 He is buried with his brother who passed away four years before his passing after suffering a heart attack in 1977.  They are interned in the Rookwood cemetery, Sydney.

References

Mercury (NSW : 1898 - 1954) View title info Thu 28 Jul 1949  Page 3