He was born the son of a farmer's in Walla Walla, and was a farm worker while young.
In 1945 he settled at Deer Park, where he ran a milk bar before becoming a taxi proprietor from 1951.
He was active in the peace movement, attending the World Peace Conference in Stockholm and an anti-H bomb conference at Tokyo in 1958.
From 1960 to 1976 he was a Sunshine City Councillor, serving as mayor from 1967 to 1968 and from 1969 to 1970.
In 1970 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council for Melbourne West as a Labor member.