Engineer leaves lasting legacy
Long-serving engineer Ken Beck, who has died aged 95, left a very tangible legacy.
lt is in the roads and the bridges that crisscross what used to be Waimea County Council. It is in the water and sewerage pipes that serve the homes and businesses of the area, which is now part of the wider Tasman District Council.
That legacy also includes popular Rabbit Island, a reserve Beck managed for 18 years during his time as Waimea county engineer. He instigated the construction of the causeway that opened the island to vehicles. It is apt the main access road is called Ken Beck Drive.
Beck’s son, Paul, said Rabbit Island was one of his father’s favourite places.
‘‘The island really embodies his spirit – that life should be kept simple but enjoyed,’’ Paul Beck said. ‘‘He was incredibly humbled when the main access road was named after him and as a family, it is something we will always treasure.’’
In 2016, aged 92, Beck made written and oral submissions when the Moturoa/Rabbit Island Reserve Management Plan was reviewed, urging a council hearing to keep it ‘‘as is’’ – free of any commercial development.
He spoke to Stuff shortly after the hearing, sharing some stories from his long career as a council engineer around the South Island.
Beck was brought up on a farm at Orton in South Canterbury, near the mouth of the Rangitata River. He travelled by horse to school. Beck’s secondary education was completed at Timaru Boys’ High School where he set his sights on becoming an engineer.
World War II forced Beck to put those plans on hold when he was conscripted into military service, first with the New Zealand Army and then with the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Hostilities ceased before he saw active duty and Beck returned to his studies, graduating with a degree in civil engineering from the University of Canterbury in 1953.
Beck was working as a junior engineer at Invercargill when he met and married Babette Lister and the couple had their first son, Paul. The young family moved to Clyde where Beck was county engineer for the then Vincent County Council. The couple’s second son, Christopher, was born in 1957.
After Clyde, Beck was appointed county engineer and Civil Defence controller at the then Geraldine County Council. He found himself transforming the gravel roads of his childhood into sealed routes with modern bridges.
It was 1971 when the family moved to Richmond after Beck got the job of county engineer for the then Waimea County Council.
Beck managed an engineering team that carried out the majority of design work in-house. He also managed the operations and maintenance teams, based around the area.
The Tasman District Council engineering department this month remembered Beck’s contribution. A staff report for the engineering services committee meeting says Beck was always keen to maximise any government financial assistance such as funds from the National Roads Board to upgrade the county bridge network and health subsidies to convert septic tanks to fully reticulated sewerage schemes.
Tasman district mayor Richard Kempthorne, who knew Beck, said he was a wonderful man and a great engineer.
‘‘Even after he retired, he was still fundamentally interested in engineering projects,’’ Kempthorne said.
After Beck died on July 31, Kempthorne visited the family and was told that the nonagenarian had swapped a planned flight to Christchurch for a road trip via Kaiko¯ura so he could see the restored section of State Highway 1 that had been badly damaged by the November 2016 earthquake.
Ken Beck is survived by his two sons and four grandchildren.
The island really embodies his spirit – that life should be kept simple but enjoyed. Paul Beck