Michael Alan Clarke – 17 Feb 1941 - 12 Sep 1995


Michael was the first child of Fred Clarke and May De Prose.

Michael was born in England mid-War. And he nearly came into the world with a bang. In January 1941 (probably 10 January), the 8-months-pregnant May was in a bomb-shelter in the back yard of the house they lived in, in Grayshott Rd, when the house next door was destroyed by a bomb from a passing German aircraft. Not only did the front room of their own house (the all-important music room) go with it, but the bomb-shelter was buried in rubble and it took a few hours to dig May out.

Michael came to Australia with his parents in 1948, arriving shortly before his 7th birthday.

After Portsmouth (1941-48), he lived in Kingaroy (1948-75), Tara (1975-1989) and Bundaberg (1990-1995).

During the first half of the 1960s he was a Go-Kart driver, and competed at events around south Queensland, including in Bundaberg, where Roger saw him race a couple of times. This map shows the territory.

He worked as a technician with PMG which later became Telecom (and nowadays is Telstra).

m1. Lorraine Elizabeth Arthur 13 Feb 1965
Children 1 and 2
Lorraine left in the early 1970s
div. 1973? Lorraine did not re-marry.

m2. Anne Ellen Staines 8 Mar 1975
T hey moved to Tara (south-west of Dalby) in 1975
Children 3 and 4
The family moved via Dalby to Bundaberg in 1989-90
After they'd moved to North Bundaberg, Fred and May moved there from Maryborough (c. 1991), and lived in the same street.

Michael was very involved with Craig's cricket and Kristine's hockey - even becoming a coach and treasurer of the hockey club. Kristine wrote "He loved playing with electronics, especially CB radios and computers. He was always the handy man, building anything!! If you couldn't find him, you'd find him in his 'room' buried under all his work!! He always took a lot on - too much I think - he always had a list a mile long to do around the house/yard - but not much got done in place of his hobbies".

Michael died of an 'aortic dissection' (a form of aneurism), working on his car, at the very early age of 54.

His youngest daughter, Kristine wrote that "Dad died 5 mths and 5 days before his 55th birthday in 1995, 15 days before my 15th birthday". Spooky?

Fred and May moved back to Maryborough some years after his death (c. 1998).

Anne stayed in Bundaberg, and remarried some years after Michael's death, on 15 Apr 2000, to Peter Charles Smart (b. 19 Apr 1940), divorced c. 2012.

Here are Michael's children and (to date) 10 grandchildren, only 1 of whom was born in his lifetime:

  1. Bradley Michael Clarke, b. 13 Nov 1966
    Bradley moved to Brisbane with Lorraine in 1981
    m. Lisa Jayne Ryan on 12 Aug 2000
    Lisa was b. 6 Jun 1979
    Children 2 and 3
    Separated
    They live in Brisbane
    1. Cory Bradley Michael Clarke, b. 23 Dec 1991
    2. Nakita Jayne Clarke, b. 26 Mar 2003
    3. Brayden Michael William Clarke, b. 30 Jan 2007
  2. Katrina Louise Clarke, b. 24 Dec 1967
    Katrina moved to Brisbane with Lorraine in 1981
    m. David Allen COLLINS, 30 Dec 1989
    David was b. 22 Aug 1967
    They live in Brisbane
    1. Alexander Levi Collins, b. 9 Oct 1996
    2. Zachary James Collins, b. 23 Sep 1998
    3. Charlotte Isabel Collins, b. 6 Mar 2007
  3. Craig Edward Clarke, b. 31 Mar 1977
    Craig studied Computer Science at CQU
    He's run an IT business in Bundaberg since the early 2000s
    m. Kathy Jane Spessa 13 Sep 2014 
    Kathy has 2 daughters from a previous relationship
  4. Kristine Anne Clarke, b. 27 Sep 1980
    m. Martin Anthony VANDERLEEST (spelt VanderLeest) on 7 Dec 2001
    Martin was b. 15 Jun 1979, and is of Dutch descendancy
    1. Wade Anthony Michael VanderLeest, b. 12 Jun 2007
    2. Annabella Maria Skye VanderLeest, b. 16 Aug 2010
    3. Sophia Alexis Joyce VanderLeest, b. 08 Feb 2013
    4. Quinn Ivy May VanderLeest, b. 05 May 2016

The text here draws on my own knowledge of the family, plus more from Michael's sister Anne, and a lot more from Michael's daughter Kristine.


This a page within Roger Clarke's Family Web-Site

Contact: Roger Clarke

Created: 6 Apr 2008; Last Amended: 6 Apr 2015, 4 Feb 2017 (corrections from Kristine)