Sam Loxton - Other Work and Personal Life

Other Work and Personal Life

Prior to entering politics, Loxton worked as a bank teller. In 1956, television began in Australia, and he participated in the nation's first generation of sports telecasting. Loxton was a commentator on GTV-9 for the Melbourne Summer Olympics held in late 1956, and his co-commentators included American track and field icon Jesse Owens. After leaving parliament, the former politician joined the property developers Ellis, Sallmann and Seward.

Loxton served as an administrator with various local groups. He was vice-president of the Victorian School for Deaf Children, president of the Prahran Technical School Council and a member of the Prahran College of Advanced Education Council. With regards to housing and social inclusion issues, he served as a committee member of the Glen Loch Home for the Aged and chairman of the Deakin Co-operative Housing Society.

His opinions on contemporary cricket were frequently sought. "People get a bit worried about me," he told Cricinfo in 2008, "Shane Warne's been a fine bowler—no doubt about it, he's done some wonderful things—but Bill O'Reilly and Clarrie Grimmett, who have better strike-rates per match than Warne and never played against a 2nd XI —they only played against the best—had no rough to bowl at. I never had to bat to a leg-spinner who bowled into the rough outside my leg stump, and I played for a long time."

Loxton married three times. He divorced his first wife Hilda in February 1952 after a nine-year union that produced no children. The cricketer then wed Caryl Bond, whom he had met during the 1949–50 tour of South Africa, and the pair had two sons. Loxton later divorced Bond and wed his third wife Joan Shiels. In 2000, one of his sons and his third wife died on the same day, due to a shark attack in Fiji and drowning in the family swimming pool, respectively. In later life he lived alone and was still mobile despite being almost blind. Loxton died on 3 December 2011.