80 years of fitness

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 420, 21 January 1992, Page 5

80 years of fitness

Well known Raetihi identity Bill Hussey turned 80 last October and is now still very active and fit. A self confessed 'fitness freak', Mr Hussey leads a very active life. He still drives his car and until six months ago still did weight training. Last week Mr Hussey was busy splitting two cord of firewood. He is a keen vegetable gardener and manages to be almost self sufficient in this. Any surplus is given to friends. Mr Hussey riding his bike along Seddon St with his faithful dog Hine following behind is a common sight. "I still bike to town each day as it helps to keep me fit', said Mr Hussey. Mr Hussey's interest in cycling began as a youth in Foxton where he was a member of the cycling club. In 1931 at the age of 17 he won the Palmerston North to Wellington road cycling race and came third in 1933. 'Cycling was my thing. In those days if I was riding in a race I used to ride to where the race was being held, ride in the race and then ride home again. These days if you ride in a race you drive there', said Mr Hussey. As there was no scope for road racing in the Waimarino Mr Hussey gave up competitive cycling when he moved to Raetihi. Not here by choice Mr Hussey transfenred to Raetihi in 1933. At that time he was work-

ing as a telephone operator on the exchange. "It wasn't exactly my own choice to come here. In those days if you were a bit naughty you used to be 'transferred' or banished, as we called it, to Raetihi, Ohakune or Taumarunui," said Mr Hussey." At that stage there were four people working on the exchange. We used to have what was called a 'tell tale clock' which you had to punch every 15 minutes. This was especially hard if you had had a night out and were on the late night shift. It was designed to keep you awake." "In those days my wage was thirty shillings and board cost 25 shillings a week which only left five shillings." "As a young man I loved the area for its pighunting, rugby and mountains", said Mr Hussey. About a year after arriving in Raetihi Mr Hussey married Nancy Ciochetto. They had two children - Janet and Billy. Mrs Hussey died in 1966 after many years of illness. Over the years he worked his way to become supervisor and acting postmaster where he relieved in Raetihi and Ohakune. At one stage Mr Hussey transferred to Opotiki for twelve months but was keen to retum to Raetihi. White wedding As acting postmaster Mr Hussey was the registrar for births, deaths and marriages. "I rcmember one incident years ago when a couple were getting married. The day before, friends came and decorated the post office. On the day a young lady arrived beautifully dressed in white and the bride and groom came straight from the shcaring shed still in thcir working gear, right down to their woolpack moccasins, and for a moment I thought the lady in white was the bride but it turned out

that she was the bridesmaid!' said Mr Hussey. While he was working in the Post Office Mr Hussey used to spend his annual leave working in the bush for Ike Plunket or Alf Timmo. "A change is as good as a holiday. I used to enjoy it because it was such different work," he said. Mr Hussey retired from the Post Office in 1970. During his latter years at the Post Office he met and later married

his present wife, the then Mrs Merle Conray. During the Second World War Mr Hussey served in the 2nd N.Z. Div. Sigs. in Crete, Greece and the Western Desert from 1940-1945. In 1971 Mr and Mrs Hussey returned to Greece, Crete and Italy for a trip and in 1978 joined members of the Maori Battalion on a trip through areas in Greece, Crete, Italy, Tunisia, Malta and Sicily, where the battal-

ion had served, visiting many old battlefields. They were away for three months. Open gate The name on the gate at Mr Hussey's home in Ballance Street reads 'Bab-el-Ouk'. He is used to people coming in asking what it means. Bab-el-Ouk is Arabic for open gate or Welcome and is named after the railway station in Cairo where Mr Hussey used to catch a train to Maadi or Helwan when on leave

during the war. After retiring from the Post Office Mr Hussey worked as a storeman for the Waimarino County Council for about 10 years before retiring in 1980. "It was the best job I ever had", said Mr Hussey. Mr Hussey finds

it terribly sad to look at the old Post Office today. He remembers that at its peak there were 24 on staff at the Post Office including telephone exchange operators. "It is a shame that so many rural post offices were closed," said Mr Hussey.