11/05/1938 - 20/04/2023
85 years
It is with great sadness that the President informed the Club of the death of our dear friend and colleague, Max Hardman. Max Hardman was inducted into the Rotary Club of Melbourne on 23 November 1988, with the classification Consultancy - Town Planning. He was proposed by fellow town planner, Max Barr. Max Hardman arrived well experienced in Rotary after some years as a member of Rotary Club of West Perth, including serving as Secretary.
Max grew up in the West. He attended Wesley College Perth, and then he studied architecture at the Perth Technical College. He was awarded the Hardy Prize for his final year thesis. On graduation he joined the Town Planning Department of the WA government and later completed his training with the architectural firm Cameron Chisholm and Nichol. He did further studies in architecture at Nottingham University UK. Max is a past President of the Royal Australian Planning Institute and of the Australian Institute of Architects (WA Chapter). Max has represented his profession at many overseas conventions, and he also practiced in Japan.
While living in Perth he held a Commonwealth Government appointment to the National Capital Planning Committee and was a member of the Interim Heritage Council of WA and the WA Heritage Committee. When he joined our club, he was a Director of Meldrum Burrows Pty Ltd, who specialized in commercial architecture, engineering, town planning, interior design and landscaping services.
Those who worked with Max on Club committees and projects would describe him as a quiet achiever, a team player and someone who got things done. He served on Club Groups & Member Support, Club Information, the East Timor Committee, Welfare of the Young and the Rotary Foundation. He enjoyed the fellowship of the Hawthorn/Kew Group including two years as Group Captain. Max didn’t have a lot to say in committee meetings, but when he did it was prudent to listen carefully as his comment or question would be the result of much careful thought.
Max was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in early March and died peacefully in the company of his family in Caritas Christie on Thursday 20 April. In correspondence between Beatrix, his wife and President Adrian, while Max was in palliative care, she wrote of his commitment to Rotary and his skills in furniture making and building. He designed and built their first home in the hills of Perth, and he had single handedly extended their Melbourne home.
We salute Max Hardman for his warm friendship, his quirky sense of humour and nearly forty years of Rotary service. He will be sadly missed.
Max's funeral will be held on Sunday, 7 May 2023, at 2.00pm at Le Pine Funerals, 741 High Street, East Kew and Beatrix wrote “I'm sure Max would be happy for members of his Rotary Club to attend”.
