Allan Goddard

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 538, 12 July 1994, Page 6

Allan Goddard

Allan Wallace Goddard wasbom atTe Kuiti in 1919, the second son of Sid and Rose Goddard. On leaving school at the age of 14 he worked on the land until joining the Army. He served with a unit on Fanning Island, protecting the cable station before transfer to the New Zealand Divisions in the Middle East, where he served with 21 Battalion through to the end of the Italian campaign. On discharge from the Army he was employed as plant operator on the works staff of the Taihape Borough Council. Later, in 1946, he married Kathleen Winchcombe of Taihape and under the ex-service-men's rehabilitation scheme, settled on a dairy unit in the Turitea Valley near Otorohanga. The couple bred a herd of purebred Ayrshire and ran Border Leicester sheep. Allan became the chairman of the first Tiheroa School committee, driving the school bus between milkings and on endless

working bees. Table tennis evenings on Friday s during the winter at Honikiwi Hall was an activity the family enjoyed together, as were the many camping holidays taken when the cows were dry during the May school break. In 1964, with four daughters and a son raised on the farm, the wish to bring the family within reach of a college (and of opporunities for employment) promoted a shift to Ohakune. There Allan worked initially in the bush with two brothers-in-law on post contracting; then as forklift operator at Carter's Mill on the Dreadnought Road. Thereafter he was Borough Foreman until his retirement about 1983, whereupon he served as a Borough Councillor. With the love of the outdoors at heart, Allan together with members of his family, joined the Turoa Alpine.Club and enjoyed many wonderful tramps. Fi shing holidays at Papa

Aroha Coromandel were special occasions for all the family. Many a fishy tale has been told of the big one that got away! As a member of the Ohakune Apostolic Church, he was associated with the recent building operations. It was refreshing to hear his reports, not that they were other than his usual sober statements - yet nevertheless, what shined through was the great worth to him of his fellowship, and the path they trod. Allan held the position of president of the Ruapehu Lions Club for a period from 1977-78, taking part in a variety of communitybased projects. Allan will be rememTurn to Page 7

Obituary: Allan Goddard

FROM PAGE 6 bered for his many good qualities, being very conscientious in all things, cheerful, eminently fair, honest and truthful, and of a kindly and gentle disposition. He is survived by his wife Kathleen, son

Ben and daughter-in-law Trish, Lynnette (Mrs Norman Gulli ver of Huntly), Pat (Mrs Graeme Clark of Christchurch), Norma (Mrs Allan Dyer of Australia), and Wendy of Wellington, and 13 grand-children.