By Brendan Rees
Great-grandmother Judy Clarkson is one of the most much-loved figures in Cranbourne.
With a close-knit network of family, friends and associates, she is revered for being a person of great integrity, dedication and generosity – with a career spanning more than half a century.
Always one to greet others with a warm smile, the 80-year-old, who was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, has well-deserved the title.
Mrs Clarkson received it for her significant service to business through child and aged care projects, and to the community.
When told of the honour, Mrs Clarkson said: “I didn’t know anything about it until two months ago” after being informed of her nomination.
“I thought ‘Oh my god’. I said: ‘Oh I don’t even deserve it’ … it’s very exciting.”
Her popular Cranbourne Day Care and Kindergarten Centre business of which she is the founder and company director began from humble beginnings.
In 1967 she and her husband moved to a house in Cranbourne Drive where they ran their first childcare centre – initially with just four children so their daughter had a “playmate” while her older brother started school.
As the numbers quickly grew, Mrs Clarkson said: “We got a little flat down the road and lived there with three kids for two years and then we built our own home.”
The original house on Cranbourne Drive is still owned by Mrs Clarkson and remains as the Cranbourne Day Care and Kindergarten Centre – which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018.
The Clarkson’s expanded their childcare business which now includes six centres in Casey – with another in Clyde due to open in September. All up the centres service some 900 families across Casey.
They also went on to develop Blue Hills Rise and Blue Hills residences as well as the Shopping on Clyde centre.
Despite building a successful business, Mrs Clarkson, who is a former president and committee member of the Victorian Private Childcare Association, said her biggest pride had been her family including her three children, 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Mrs Clarkson was born in Melbourne and her family moved to Fiveways when she was 12 after her father, who was a grocer at the Camberwell market, decided to pursue his passion in farming.
She soon met her beloved husband Ivan when she was 15 and married in 1959 at the Cranbourne Presbyterian Church and had their three children – Howard, Sharon and Jodie.
Today, Mrs Clarkson shows no signs of slowing down: “I love people and I love children and I want the very best for them.”
