|
Frank was born in Foxton in 1938, son
of a chemist. His father was a sergeant in A Company of the NZ Rifle Brigade, which
fought in the famous battle for the walled town of Le Quesnoy during the last 10
days of World War 1. The family moved to Wanganui, and from 1951 to 1955 he attended
Sacred Heart College, Auckland, as a boarder. Sport impacted significantly on his
studies but he graduated with a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Victoria University in 1962.
During this time he had to work to pay his way through university with holiday jobs
in freezing works, timber yards and part-time teaching at Wellington Girls’ College.
He gained an M.Sc. in 1963, studying extramurally while at the Makarewa works of the
Southland Frozen Meat Company.
In the late 1960’s, Frank, Julia and
their young family moved to HB when Frank took up the position of Production
Supervisor and Chief Chemist of the East Coast Fertiliser Works. He was appointed
Technical Manager and during this period he was the overseer of the building of the
biggest sulphuric acid plant in the country.
In 1977 he was appointed works manager
of the NZ Farmers’ Fertiliser Company in New Plymouth and was there during a $6
million upgrade. In 1984 he was appointed General Manager of Moa-Nui Co-operative
Dairies Ltd in Inglewood.
In 1992 Frank and Julia returned to
HB and brought a vineyard alongside the Napier Golf Club. They sold this in 1999 and
are happily retired playing a lot of golf.
Sport has been a very important part
of Frank’s life. In his youth, he was an elite sportsman, achieving heights few
reach. He joined the Union Rowing Club in Wanganui in 1956. He made an impact on the
rowing scene as a member of the Club’s Youth 4s. They won the Auckland
Championships at Karapiro in 1956. In 1957 he was a member of the Union Club senior
fours. This crew won at several provincial regattas and took out the Karapiro Plate
at the National Championships . Later that season the crew beat the New Zealand
champions, Clifton (Waitara), in an epic race on the Wanganui River.
In 1958, as a member of the Union
Senior 4, his crew won the Auckland and the National Championships. For the first
time in 30 years the famous Boss Rooster trophy was nailed to the Union clubhouse
mast.
This crew was selected for the 1958
British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff and they finished a metre away from
a bronze medal. During these years, he rowed for Victoria University and was awarded
3 University Blues and well as a New Zealand University Blue.
We know about his rowing exploits, but
following his return to HB he coached for the HB Rowing Club.
Rugby
was another sporting passion. He played senior rugby for Victoria University as a
prop, before rowing demanded all his spare time. However his expertise in elite
sport saw him involved in coaching the Marist senior rugby team which at the time
included names like Furlong, McRae and Thimbleby. Later he became chairman of the
club for 2 years.
Cricket one has to say, was not one of
Frank’s sporting strengths. Briefly he played for the Wanganui Teachers’ cricket
team. A report reads; “He came to the wicket with the Teachers reeling at 28 for 4.
He scored 10. The first ball was a 4 off an outside edge. He French Cut the second
down to fine leg for another boundary. He then ran the captain out going for a
suicidal third run, and he was clean bowled on the last ball of the over. The
following week he was selected as 12th man!”
While in New Plymouth, Frank joined
the New Plymouth North Rotary Club and served as President during the 1981-82 Rotary
year. The following year he served as the District Governors’ Representative. On
returning to Napier in 1992, he joined the Rotary Club of Taradale. Since then he
has been the constant figure behind the bar, running Fellowship (with Gordon
Buckley) for more than 15 years. He was a Sergeant for two years, and a regular
worker for the Auction and Charity Fair, always turning up for sorting weekends. By
default he has disguised himself as Father Xmas at the Children’s Xmas party each
year. Currently he is a Trustee of the Kelvin Tremain Memorial Education Trust.
But perhaps his major impact on the
Club has been his organisation of members to act as ushers at sporting events at
McLean Park. Since 2004, these efforts have resulted in over $15,000 being raised
for the Club.
Upon retirement, Frank had too much
energy to just potter around at golf, so together with Gordon and Margaret Buckley,
he helped get a SeniorNet organisation up and running in Napier. He served on the
committee for several years and was its chairman for 3 years. The love of teaching
he discovered when teaching young adolescent school girls in 1960 never deserted
him, and he continues to tutor post adolescent students weekly at SeniorNet.
During
all this time, Frank and Julia (Tig to her friends) found time to raise 5 children,
Philip, Peter, Martin, David and Kate. This successful family is scattered around
the world with Kate in France, Philip, Peter and Martin in Australia, and David in
Christchurch. |
