Sir Alan Thomas CarmodyCBE (8 September 1920 – 12 April 1978) was an Australian public servant and government official, who was knighted for his contributions.
Carmody enlisted in 1940 in the Citizen Air Force of the Royal Australian Air Force. He was commissioned in February 1943, serving as a radar officer and was demobbed in 1945. He studied at the Canberra University College and graduated from the University of Melbourne with degrees in Arts (1946), Commerce (1947) and a Masters of Commerce (1950).[2]
In 1964, Carmody was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire,[5] that was upgraded to a Companion of the Order in 1971.[6] In 1977, Carmody was appointed a Knight Bachelor in recognition of service to the public service.[7]
In 2008, a street in the Canberra suburb of Casey was named Carmody Street in Alan Carmody's honour.[8]
Personal
A practising Catholic, Carmody married Elizabeth Mary Brennan in St Patrick's Catholic Church, Adelaide, on 25 October 1944. Together they had five children. Carmody died suddenly from coronary vascular disease on 12 April 1978, aged 57, at his Canberra home, while still serving as Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. After a service at St Christopher's Cathedral,[9] he was interred in Canberra. He was survived by his wife, two daughters and three sons.[2]
Macklin, Robert (13 April 2001). "Capital Times with Robert Macklin". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 19 August 2008. LOTS of family reunions in Canberra this weekend - but none more enthusiastic than the Carmodys whose ancestor James arrived from County Clare aged 20 in 1851. Among his descendants was Sir Alan Carmody, pictured, famous Secretary of Customs, rising to the head of Prime Minister & Cabinet from 1976 to his death in 1978.
