Tony Watkins

Bob Griffit, jazz trumpeter, died 13 February 2010, after living at Karaka Bay for 63 years.

Frank had had many adventures in boats. It seemed only right that his coffin should sail away from Rothesay Bay on his last great adventure. 

Deirdre never parked her car. She just abandoned it. If she met a friend while driving she would stop to talk and the locals knew they would simply need to wait until she moved on. She was a colourful character at a time when there were many and she was deeply respected as Coromandel’s only doctor. Dierdre was also a very religious person and in her later years she devoted much of her time to sculpting terracotta tiles depicting biblical subjects.

Usually when writing a eulogy or saying a few words at a memorial you find yourself trying to remember. With Eugene I found myself trying to forget. Those moments of terror. Nightmares which have refused to go away. With Eugene everything was different. Looking back it is something of a puzzle as to why Eugene had any friends, let alone so many friends.

Photo by Nicola Topping

He told it the way it was, skilfully turning any documentary into an epic of Socratic grandeur. He was not into idle entertainment, and yet nothing could be more entertaining than his perceptive view of human nature, and the sweep of his vision.