Mick cleary telegraph biography of michael

Since the shock of Mick’s unexpected death on an evening walk in Strathmerton last week, heartfelt tributes to the one-of-a-kind community leader have flooded social media.

Mick was a kind and charismatic man who could get along with anyone, and whose sharp wit often had crowds roaring with laughter.

Born at Deniliquin Hospital on September 21, 1953, Mick’s parents Patricia ‘Gabby’ Cleary, nee Coman, and Thomas ‘Toppy’ Cleary managed a wheat and sheep farm at the time.

Mick was the third of eight children, and brother to Genevieve, Edward (Ted), Angela, Thomas (Tom), Bernard, Eleanor and James (Jim), and spent his youth growing up in Gippsland.

As a young boy, the trip to school often involved walking or riding substantial distances, however, on their first day at St Joseph’s school, Iona, in 1964, Mick and his siblings scored a lift to school.

“The family’s Dodge sedan wouldn’t start on th