"A MAN WHO SOUGHT TO BUILD"

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 147, 9 July 1937, Page 6

"A MAN WHO SOUGHT TO BUILD"

Mayor's Tribute to the Late • Mr. Cecil Dnff SERVICE TO DISTRICT 4lIt is customary for this council, before proceeding with the consideration of its affairs on an occasion when we have lost by death the services of * past or present councillor, to pause for a while so that we may pay our respects and tribute to his life and public service," said the Mayor, Mr G. A. Maddison, at the meeting of the Hastings Borough Council last evening. "This has been my duty on many occasiona, and X would indeed that this present occasion had not arisen, for our town has suifered the Iosb ot one of its most outstandihg sons, for the ' late Cecil Puff, who was loved by men, women, and children, piayed a noble and: self-sacrificing and f ull part in the ■ buiiding and progress of Hastings and its institutions. "It was my privjlege and my gain to be associated. with him in borough affairs in the years, 1921/1923, *when he yras » City Father. 1 well remember his deep sincerity, his unswerving injfcegrity, his prudence, his wise counsel, and his ineticulous care that full justico ahould be done to everyone concerned, and his deep sense of the re•ponsibility that has office carried. "His assodations with our civic, social, o-nH commercial organisations wero many, and in appreciation of his itfn and service to those organisations Was ftppropri ately disclosed by the large oonoourse of people who gathered to P»y their respects to him on his last jouraey Home. f "I jeoollect now," Mr Maddison added, "his nntjring work in hospital affairs and his sustained pertinacity in pursuing the rigbts of the people in lirging adequate hospital accoqjpiodataoa for the sick and needy of this disjrict. I would also mention his association with theSt. John Ambulance Society, the Hrama League, the Orphans' Club, ihe Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce, Athletic Clubs, and so many others, each of which gained strength and stimulation and success from his great life and example; but he seemed to love the life of it, he lived in it, and he died in it. Jf he had one fauit, it concerned himself in that he carried on his public work right up to the last hours of his passing, when rejdly he might have been seeking rest and giving consideration to his health. "And so Cecil Huff passes— a man 'who reverenced his conscience as his j£ing; a T"aTi in whose conscience was a deep sense of loyalty and Christianity ; a man of courage and eloquence and abiding eourtesy ,sympathy and charity ; a man whose word was his bond j a man who sought to build, and mot to destroy, and who knew no mahce. ' 'His loss is a personal one to me. 1 had been closely connected with him in public affairs for so many years, ?nr] from that had sprung a deeP and unfailjng friendship. He was the reflection of a singularly simple and cancffd nature in its best and truest form. We mourn his loss, but we shail ever remain mindful and grateful for the great services he rendered his town and people; and in turning over the pages of the past, history will record that Cecil' Duff was honoured. by all luen, that he built higher, and stronger, and more lasting the editice that constitutes our public life, and that he «iid more than his share in the advancement of our district. •"We extend our warmest sympathy to his sorrowing " wife and daughters, whose grief we know is greatestj but they can seek a glorious consolation from the nobility of his character, from friig greatness as a man, and from his life that was so freely given to them and to us— for he was their mate, and » mate to all people." v * " * -