Frederick Peter Fawke OAM
25 September 1944 - 11 August 2025
Fred Fawke has been a member of the Rotary Club of Belconnen since 1996 after transferring to us from the Rotary Club of Canberra Weston Creek. A larger than life person he emigrated to Australia with wife Pam many years ago having been a ‘bobby’ in the London Police Force. He became a member of the Commonwealth Police Force from 1966-1979 and was instrumental in designing the first AFP organisational structure in 1979. He retired with the rank of Superintendent in 1979-2000. Fred has noted that when he became a Superintendent, he was nicknamed the “waste control officer”.
He was President of the Rotary Club of Belconnen in 2006-2007; District Chairman of the District 9710 Shelterbox Project in 2007 (and for many years since then); member of the Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) association; District Assets Office; District Coordinator of Probus Clubs; former Board member of our Club; Assistant Director of our Community Services Committee and a current member of our Donations in Kind & Recover, Rehabilitate and Reuse Project(DIK/RRR).
Fred was well known throughout the Belconnen community through his hands-on Community service, assisting those disadvantaged and disable people who fall outside the scope of government assistance, with replacement household equipment, wheelie-walkers, electric scooters, wheelchairs and a range of medical aids such as respiratory machines and electric hospital beds; coordinating club members to construct garden beds and pergolas and personally delivering mulch to the tip or recycling centre. He inspired other Rotarian, members of the public and organisations, such as Storage King, Bunnings and others to assist where they could. He was well known on the ABC on a Saturday morning with his “this is Fred from Dunlop” on the radio waves.
Fred’s community commitment was not just his Rotary responsibility but a genuine response from a truly caring man; a true leader-at-large in our community.
Apart from his OAM for service to the community of Canberra, Fred has three Paul Harris Fellow Awards from Rotary International. Was recipient of the District Rotarian of the Year in 2009-2010 and 2017-2018. And was recipient of the Four Avenues of Service Citation by Rotary International.
A good friend to all of us in the Rotary Club of Belconnen and a man in a million.
Peter OLDHAM
PP Rotary Club of Belconnen
Club Historian