Cliff was born at St Lukes Private Hospital to Russell and Dorothy Callinan. It is believed that his parents lived in North Sydney. Cliff was very close to his parents.
Cliff grew up with his sister, Del and did many things throughout his life to assist her.
Cliff completed his secondary education at St Pius at Chatswood.
After school, he entered the workforce. He was employed at the Australian Catholic Association in the late 1950’s as a cashier. Then, he moved to South British Insurance, NZI and finally to Zurich . Cliff worked in the clerical field, and at Zurich the microfiche area was his forte. He retired from Zurich.
Cliff gained a love of sailing on cruise ships from his parents, with whom he travelled on cruises during the 1950’s and 1960’s.
He has sailed on the Canberra and was on the last journey of the Canberra (1961-1997) from Sydney to San Francisco on February 23 1997. At various times, he sailed on the Fairstar, Arcadia and the QE11. He may have travelled on the old Oriana. There were other cruises and many slides. Cliff visited many places overseas during his life time. The last cruise he did was with Steve Warren, his carer for the World Shipping Society on P and O.
Some interesting events happened on his travels…….
He sometimes travelled with Christine Welsh, whom he worked with for many years at Zurich. They shared the last journey of the Canberra to San Francisco in late February 1997. I recall Christine telling me about another cruise to Hong Kong – they had a great night at Happy Valley Racecourse.
In San Francisco in 1997, they decided to walk up Lombard Street, instead of walking down it, as most people do. Cliff almost mailed a can of soft drink in San Francisco, not knowing that the blue container was a mail box and not a rubbish bin. He did not live that one down!
He got lost in Los Angeles after visiting Disneyland .He went to catch the last bus back to the cruise ship, and went to great trouble to get to the other side of a multi- lane highway only to realise he wasn’t in Australia, and the traffic goes the other way. He was on the wrong side of the road for his bus. He did eventually make it back to the cruise ship on time.
Cliff had many interests throughout his life from personal to community advocacy. He worked in a volunteer capacity on the South Steyn ferry; he helped in a volunteer capacity on the Capitol Theatre, (he was part of the team that removed the Theatre Organ, which is now at Campsie Orion); The Theatre Royal (original) which resulted in a deal for the new theatre; and had some involvement in Princess Theatre and the Regent Theatre demolition battles.
Cliff was a member of the World Shipping Society , Australian Maritime Museum , The Ferry Society NSW, Mature Aged Gays , Theatre Organ Society Australia-NSW Division .
Cliff’s parents owned a holiday house in the Blue Mountains for a number of years. Cliff also owned a house in the Blue Mountains for some time.
He told the story that his father had a block of land with overhead power lines. They were instructed to clear it by Blue Mountains Council by the end of the weekend. He and his father put a great deal of effort into clearing the undergrowth. It was taking too long, and so they set it on fire.
A man living across the road refused permission to let them use his hose –cliff and his father did not want the fire to jump the road to where this man lived. The man sat there reading a book whilst the fire raged. Luckily a wind came up and blew the fire down the valley from the road and it blew itself out where it had previously burnt. A close shave!
Cliff lived at Waverton in a unit for a long time .He decided to move to a retirement complex in Waitara Street, Waitara. Ill health then forced him to a Nursing Home at Narwee in possibly 2014, as his friends were largely on the south side of Sydney. This Nursing Home relocated its patients to Bupa at Clemton Park in 2016.
Cliff had a good sense of humour and was a kind hearted man. He enjoyed socialising and having dinner with friends at Bankstown Sports Club. His favourite – a roast dinner.
When in the Nursing Home, he was always pleased to see his visitors, and to catch up on their news. The phone was a means of communication for him.
He had many friends, who shared similar interests to him. Steve, his carer in later years, assisted Cliff greatly.
Recent years have not been kind to Cliff, and his health deteriorated during the latter part of 2019.
Del, his sister, pre- deceased him on June the 3rd 2016.
Cliff will be missed greatly by his friends.
Rest in peace, Cliff.
Anne Field
Kogarah.
January 24th 2020
Click on the link below to see the service:
Video of Funeral Service for the Late Clifford Callinan – Men In Black Funerals.
