Dawn Cleary, one of the Outback’s much loved ladies of trucking has gone. Dawn was inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame with husband Mal at ReUnion 2012. We are proud to have one of their Eight wheelers on display in the Kenworth Dealer Hall of Fame. This is their story.
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Mal Cleary arrived in Cloncurry in 1956 and was asked by a local contractor to take on the Canobie Station Mail run which took around three months to complete. Mary Kathleen mine had recently been opened and Mal could see opportunities for transport.
He invested in a 1948 three ton Austin and began carting goods from Cloncurry to the mine site.
Mal’s second truck was a 1954 five ton Austin. Mal had also been asked to take over the Bang Bang Station Mail run which he did.
Mal had to purchase a 1942 Blitz to cope with the muddy quagmire of the black soil plains in the wet season.
Mal met and married Dawn and in 1960 the couple moved to Mount Isa with their young children, Les, Rose, Robert and Noel. Another son, Greg was born in Mount Isa.
They carted gravel for Thiess Bros. in the Barkly and Richmond Shires. These were very lean years and Dawn took on office duties and was known as a bit of ‘Jill of all trades’. In 2012 she still is.
In 1961 they took on the Camooweal to Lake Nash Mail run which later became the Mount Isa to Lake Nash Mail run. They operated this run through some of the country’s most isolated terrain for 34 years.
To service this contract Mal and Dawn purchased a new 1963 four ton diesel BMC truck and a seven ton 1965 diesel BMC.
The Atkinson was used to haul fuels and goods to Doomadgee Mission from their Golden Fleece Depot in Mount Isa. As the mail runs became less attractive the Clearys decided to move into livestock transport. MJ Cleary & Co. soon expanding their fleet to seven Kenworth prime-movers trailing forty decks of cattle.
Eldest son Les finished his apprenticeship and went driving for his parents for the next 15 years. Brother Robert finished his apprenticeship and joined the company in 1985 until an accident.
In 2003 Mal and Dawn decided to downsize their business and take things a little easier. They sold all their vehicles except for Mal’s beloved 1979 400hp Cummins powered Kenworth of which Mal can still occasionally be found hauling five decks of livestock.
The trucking industry runs too thick in his blood for him to seriously consider full retirement.
In 2012 Mal and Dawn Cleary were still living in Mount Isa at their depot. They are true legends of the transport industry where they have worked and given their all for over 60 years.
She died aged 83 in Mount Isa on March 12.
There will be prayers of remembrance for Dawn at the 9.30am service on Sunday at St James Church on Railway Ave.
