Ngaire has left us and we are all devastated. We can only imagine the loss felt by Ralph, her children Saul and Tamara and her grandchildren. We share our deepest sympathy with them.It is hard to comprehend that she has left us because Ngaire was larger than life. She had boundless energy and was loud (in a nice way), forceful and determined (particularly on the tennis court where losing was not an option) and truly one of a kind.
When we arrived at a meeting and s
potted Ngaire with her clipboard at the door, we knew that we would have to have the mother of all excuses to say why we could not attend whatever club night out she was arranging. No was simply not an acceptable answer. As an event organiser, Ngaire was without parallel. In recent years club events have been enjoyable but perhaps less challenging than those mega events such as the Bledisloe Cup breakfasts where members were whipped into a well-oiled and very successful team. The subsequent home-hosting dinners, restaurant nights and movie nights would have hardly raised a sweat in comparison but would not have happened without Ngaire’s enthusiasm and persistence. As President Charlotte’s VP, those event organising skills were reprised with our recent successful “Raise the Lid” hat day function and perhaps that template can be a lasting tribute to Ngaire into the future.
potted Ngaire with her clipboard at the door, we knew that we would have to have the mother of all excuses to say why we could not attend whatever club night out she was arranging. No was simply not an acceptable answer. As an event organiser, Ngaire was without parallel. In recent years club events have been enjoyable but perhaps less challenging than those mega events such as the Bledisloe Cup breakfasts where members were whipped into a well-oiled and very successful team. The subsequent home-hosting dinners, restaurant nights and movie nights would have hardly raised a sweat in comparison but would not have happened without Ngaire’s enthusiasm and persistence. As President Charlotte’s VP, those event organising skills were reprised with our recent successful “Raise the Lid” hat day function and perhaps that template can be a lasting tribute to Ngaire into the future.
As a successful businesswoman running Cannon Communications, which provided training services to the chiropractic profession, and as CEO of the Australian College of Chiropractic Assistants Pty Ltd her priority obviously was with her business. Nevertheless she had the courage to accept an invitation to join our club along with Anne Scott but as events turned out Ngaire was the sole woman in our club from her induction on 22 February 1994 until Anne was inducted on 10 May 1994. Those first years in the club were not always easy, with her and Anne needing to work out their strategy before meetings to stand up to certain members who did not share the view that there was a place for female members in Rotary. Some tactics were more transparent than others, such as the donning of Spirit of Christmas outfits, which were unintentionally somewhat revealing when standing in front of a light, and their Easter Bunny outfits, both of which left no one in doubt that Ngaire, Anne and subsequent female members were a force in the club. If Rotary was not fun before, it certainly was after Ngaire and Anne arrived on the scene. Her traits of persistence and determination saw Ngaire stay the course.
Ngaire was always involved in the operations of the club but getting her to accept the role of President was another matter. She finally succumbed in the year that Dennis Shore was District Governor in 2012-13 with the pretext that the club would be focussed on the Governor and the conference and she had good people to do the heavy lifting. On that basis she said she would not have to do much as President. Naturally the real Ngaire kicked in and she – and therefore the club - enjoyed a sensational and fulfilling year.
Enormous resources were put into the District Conference but as a club we also found the wherewithal to stage a wonderful concert for Camcare, provide manpower for the City2Sea marathon, assemble a big team for the “Rotarians at Work” day, participate in the Relay for Life and the GardenDesignFest and stage that memorable Sunrise TV BBQ in “Rocket Park”. There were very active Vocational Service and Youth Service programs. We had a trivia evening and a visit from Elvis instead of Santa at Christmas. These were in addition to our Christmas function for the socially isolated, three movie nights, a theatre night, twilight bowls and home hosting. Rotary development was not overlooked, with a Club Vision Facilitation, migration to Clubrunner and entering the brave new world of social media. Phew! Looking back over Ngaire’s more than a quarter century as a Rotarian in our club, we see her imprint in so many ways, all for the good.
Of course her boundless energy went beyond the club. Her passion for her children and grandchildren and their causes was bottomless. She worked tirelessly for Tamara’s Lille Fro Charity. Her house at Sorrento was another passion, which was also a labour of love. Ngaire’s life was complicated at times but with Ralph she found a soul mate and it showed.
Who can forget Ngaire’s dulcet tones with that indelible hint of her native Kiwi accent, honed to perfection by her teacher training at the Palmerston North Teachers’ College of Massey University in New Zealand, while moonlighting as a cinema usher? She spent the majority of her life in Australia but even though you could take the girl out of New Zealand she would not allow her New Zealand heritage to be taken from her. Any misplaced attempts to denigrate rugby and the superiority of the All Blacks was dealt with as only Ngaire could. Ngarie’s adoption of Australia as her home but with her roots still firmly in New Zealand is coincidentally celebrated with her birth date being ANZAC Day. The traditional privacy of a lady’s year of birth will be respected but those who attended her memorable 60th birthday celebration will be able to quickly do the computation, but we will always remember her as ageless.
It will be hard to imagine our club without Ngaire, so we won’t. Her legacy is that the club we have today has been very much shaped by her influence. She will always be with us in spirit but we will miss her presence oh so much. Nonsense, Ngaire would say. Get on with it and don’t stuff it up. We will do our best, Ngaire.
We thank Dennis Shore for this contribution, which he described as: "Herewith is what we have put together as a suitable tribute for Ngaire. It is intended to be more of a pen portrait than a biography and I hope it is what you looking for. I am very grateful to Anne, and Henry and especially to Jane for her skills in making a tough canvas more of a work of art."
We have posted Photos at https://photos.app.goo.gl/nLrHWY8LTY1B2Chy9