b'Blue bloodThiess Bros was a family business. With five brothers at the helm, how could it be any other way? But it wasnt just the brothers who had what Thiess calls blue blood pulsing through their veinsnot the aristocratic kind, but the Thiess colour kind. The boys wives were key drivers of the business in those early years, both when joining the gang onsite to run administration, cook, deal with suppliers, and when at home running the expanding flock of Thiess kids in Queensland and New South Wales.Les eldest son Geoff had no sooner completed his senior year at Brisbane Grammar School than he was flown to Mount Isa to develop as a mechanic under Tim Ryans expert eye. Generally speaking, this was the standard Thiess induction program for the next generation. Stans son Colin worked with the team on the roadworks between Cloncurry and the Mary Kathleen Uranium Mine and did a college engineering course by correspondence. Cecils son Glen finished at State Industrial High School and It wasnt all work. A jovial groupheaded off to work on the Gold Coast canal project. Berts younger son Neil did of Thiess men kick up their heelsfield work around Brisbane. The exception to the rule was Berts eldest son Ken, during a trip to the islands towho completed a degree in civil engineering at the University of Queensland before salvage equipment. embarking on his career.17'