Clive Ilsley was born in Mount Gambier in September 1945. He attended Reidy Park Primary School and Mt Gambier High School before he left to work for SAPFOR Pty Ltd carting timber.
Later he worked for Hancock Brothers within SAPFOR as a lathe operator, manufacturing veneer. At that time he was a Union delegate for the Australian Timber Workers Union, later to become the CFMEU FFPD.
Clive was then called up for National Service for 2 years which included 12 months in Vietnam in artillery.
He then returned to SAPFOR and has been there ever since through a series of name changes including SEAS SAPFOR, Auspine Tarpeena and now Gunns Tarpeena.
Clive was the CFMEU FFPD delegate throughout this time except for a period of about 2 years. He was also an occupational health and safety representative for a few years during this time.
Clive is married to Lyla who worked at Beddisons from the age for 17 until she had her first child at 31. She then worked at the Mount Gambier Hospital for 7 years before starting at the Carter Holt Harvey LVL plant at Nangwarry where she worked for about 15 years before retiring in the round of redundancies which took place in June this year.
Clive and Lyla have two sons who are both electricians living in Mount Gambier.
Clive played football for Tarpeena and also enjoyed playing golf at Penola golf course until his back deteriorated due to a workplace injury.
SA District Assistant Secretary Brad Coates said that Clive has been an excellent Union delegate and played a major role during the 2 week lockout at Tarpeena in 1998. Brad said that Clive was a very knowledgeable delegate and described him as very smart. This is clearly the case given his diehard support for the Collingwood Football Club.
Clive has made an enormous contribution to improving the lives of his members and will be sorely missed in the workplace and by the South Australian District.
