Dad (Wes) was born on 17th Nov 1942 in Christchurch, to Bill and Grace Anderson. He was the youngest of three children. Dad did all his schooling in Wellington, going to Rongotai College. His family moved to Christchurch when he finished school.

His first job was with Mason and Struthers Hardware, but soon after he went to work for a friend Lionel Purdue who owned various grocery stores. This was the beginning of his love of the grocery trade, which he worked in for much of his life. Dad later purchased one of Lionel’s stores in St Albans, Christchurch, and managed it for some years. Mum remembers bussing from town to Merivale in her lunch hours, to help at the shop on busy Fridays so Dad could take a few moments for lunch. Then she would bus back to town after her lunch break. This busy lifestyle continued throughout their courtship, and whenever they went out for an evening, it was taken for granted that they would have to go back to the shop for an hour or two to restock shelves, before dad took her home.

Mum and Dad were married in 1968. Mum was 20 and Dad 27. He was dubbed the cradle snatcher by his friends for some time. His older sons remember sitting up on the store mezzanine drinking cans of Fanta, watching dad peer through his tiny peephole from out the back trying to catch shoplifters in the act. Long before security cameras were thought of, he was well known for chasing shoplifters down the street after spotting them through his peephole.

After the shop was sold he worked as warehouse manager and buyer for Dingwal and Paulger grocery wholesalers. Later, wanting a complete change, he worked as a courier driver for Newmans Freight.

In 1999 Mum and Dad decided on a complete change and moved to Pakistan to be boarding house parents at Murree Christian School, located at over 2500m in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains. They had to evacuate back to NZ at the end of 2001 after 9/11. Gradual onset of Parkinson’s disease meant they were unable to return as they would have loved to.

They lived off and on at their Marlborough Sounds bach in Blackwood Bay for a few years, and then settled in Waikawa Bay near Picton where Dad was still very involved in church and community, teaching Bible in schools and also helping with one-on-one reading program at Picton school. He loved his veggie garden and spent all his spare time in it. Increasing ill health necessitated a move to Blenheim in 2017.

He passed away peacefully at home, on Thursday 30th April at 4.20am, and it was very special for mum and Craig to be able to there with him.

Dad was sick for the best part of 20 years, being first diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease on their return from Pakistan. This is a very slow progressing, and physically debilitating disease, that made life increasingly difficult for Dad as the years went on. Around about 2015 he began showing signs of dementia, which slowly did to his mind what the Parkinson’s was doing to his body. Throughout all the years of dealing with these difficulties, we cannot remember one occasion where he ever complained or didn’t retain his smile and happy personality.

The family are so thankful to Mum for her never-ending love, loyalty and devotion to dad throughout all these years as she single-handedly looked after and cared for him right until the end. From all of the family we say, thanks and well done.

Craig and Na’ama, Greg and Viv, Mark and Marnie, Regan and Rebecca, Kim, and grandchildren Luke and Emily, Lydia and Anton, Jade, Lewis, Finlay, Laila, Milan, Jacob and Seth, and of course Ellen, thank you for your many kind expressions of love and care over this difficult time. They have meant so much to us.

Donations to Hospice Marlborough as a thanks for the wonderful care and support they have given Ellen and Wes would be gratefully received. https://www.marlboroughhospice.org.nz/donations