 I left school at 14 to work on the family farm and at 19 years of age I went on my OE to England & Canada for two years. On my return to New Zealand I worked as a Butcher before buying a butcher shop in Green Bay, Auckland in 1962. Married Janet in Oct 1962 and have a grown-up family of three with 10 grandchildren. After 12 years I changed my vocation and was Auckland Manager for two large Transport Co's. Six years at each. Made redundant in 1986 I was virtually unemployable at age of 50 so became a Real Estate Business Broker. About 3 years later Janet & I moved to Kohimarama when we bought the Miami Motel. Worked hard in both the motel and as a Broker, {Top salesperson twice & second once in Auckland Real Estate Awards,} so that hard work really paid off. Then got involved in the Motor Fuel Industry and with two sons we ran 5 gas stations. Again changed direction around 2001 and after leaving gas stations, I got involved in Food Manufacturing with another food oriented family, finally selling my share in early 2018. I still do admin work for a couple of our landlord Coy's. Over the years I have been very interested in Rugby and was a Referee for 20 years and for 12 of those years I was was in top ten of 300 Auckland referees refereeing Senior games in Auckland. Also did a lot of running to keep fit and have completed a couple of marathons and about 20-25 half marathons. Nowadays it is walking and I still enjoy a reasonable fitness level. In 2006/7 I had a great experience in training a Guide Dog puppy from 8 weeks old to about 20 months. When Carlin graduated as a Guide Dog he was matched with a man in Christchurch and after 10 years Carlin has just retired. I am an active member of both Probus and the Tamaki Travel Club. Travel is a major interest of both Janet and I and we have traveled extensively since 1980. One of the highlights for me was the 2016 "Habitat for Humanity" build in Vietnam with a good number of St Johns members. Our daughter Helen and son Paul were both AFS students in the USA and Germany respectively. Janet and I became involved with that organisation and we have hosted 4 AFS students and 5 Rotary students in our home. I joined Three Kings Rotary Club in 1985 when living in Mt Roskill and when we moved to Kohi in 1988 I looked for a breakfast club to join and St Johns was the choice, about 4 months after it was chartered. I have been Secretary, Treasurer, Sergeant & Director 3 times and have been awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship. Daughter Helen Stephens is also a member of St Johns. I still enjoy the great friendships made thru the St Johns Club and 34 years in Rotary. |
