Clem Hawke left school at age 12 and worked at a number of jobs including blacksmithing while studying at the School of Mines in Kapunda.
11 Facts About Clem Hawke
1.
2.
Clem Hawke trained for the ministry at Brighton under Dr William George Torr and served as Methodist home missionary at Forster in the South Australian Riverland, Port Neill and Kalangadoo.
3.
Clem Hawke was ordained a Congregationalist minister and conducted services at the Halifax Street Congregational Mission.
4.
Clem Hawke's first posting was to the Adelaide Hills town of Houghton, which he carried off successfully, and during that time their first son Neil was born.
5.
Clem Hawke was posted to New Zealand from 1923 and spent several years there before returning to South Australia, when he served at Renmark, then Bordertown from 1928 to 1935, living in the manse on Farquhar Street.
6.
Clem Hawke was well received by the local population, both as a keen cricketer and footballer and for his thoughtful well-prepared sermons.
7.
Clem Hawke enlisted with the 2nd AIF as chaplain with the rank of captain.
8.
Clem Hawke's wife died in 1979 after a long stroke-induced illness.
9.
Clem Hawke returned to Bordertown in 1987 to unveil a bust of his famous son.
10.
Bob Clem Hawke, who was particularly close to his father, said on the Channel 9 program A Current Affair, "He's passed on to me the fundamental beliefs I have, and that is: we are in this world not just to advance our own interests but we owe an obligation to our fellow human beings".
11.
Clem Hawke married Edith Emily "Ellie" Lee in June 1920.