Dan Gleeson

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NameDan GleesonDescriptionDaniel (Dan) Gleeson was born on 11 November 1914 at the home of midwife, Nurse Blaxland on Ingham Road. At the time his parents lived on land in the parish of Bohle.
Dan first attended Black School until 1926 when he moved to Aitkenvale School. Two years later at the age of 14 years he went to the Christian Brothers school.
After he finished school he took up an apprenticeship with Northern Cars and Tractors but the business folded before he finished his studies. He then worked with his uncle on his dairy, looking after the cattle. He was also engaged in cutting wood.
In 1935 Dan met and married Daisy May Campbell. In 1939 he invested in a new truck and the couple moved to Silkwood where he secured work building bridges and roads. In 1941 they moved to Cairns where Dan Gleeson worked with the Main Roads Commission on the Cairns Aerodrome. He continued to work for the Main Roads Commission throughout WWII. He resigned from the Main Roads Commission in 1955 and went to work for Readymix concrete until March 1956. In 1956 he accepted employment with Kern Bros who were working on the hard-standings at the Townsville aerodrome. Whilst working for Kern he went into earthmoving with the Pattels, a partnership which survived until 1963. At that time Dan formed DTJ & DM Gleeson, Earthmoving Contractors which he ran from 1963 to 1983 when his daughter and her husband took over. After declining a nomination to stand for the Thuringowa Shire Council in 1970, he was elected to Thuringowa Shire Council unopposed in the 1973 election. He was nominated and elected as Chairman in 1976, and returned at subsequent elections, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1988. It was during his fourth term, in 1986 that Thuringowa became a City.
Dan Gleeson died in 1994.

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