Dedicated to rowing and other pursuits
Life member North End Rowing Club, Otago Rowing Association
LES BENNETT was one of those people who was always there.
A life member of both the North End Rowing Club and Otago Rowing Association, he was a loyal and exacting person.
He died peacefully on May 11, at Leslie Groves Hospital, aged 80, following a major stroke last year.
A few days later at his funeral, his former rowing club formed an eightmember guard of honour with raised oars as he was carried to the waiting hearse by family and two fellow life members.
One of those life members, Royce Wilson, said Mr Bennett was someone who would do all the little things.
‘‘He was always there. He loved the rowing club and did a lot of little jobs around the club too, that he didn’t have to do, just to make things a little bit better.
‘‘He kept records for a while. I’ve been keeping records for many years, but he kept some records of some successes the rowing club had which he put up on a notice board.
‘‘We have a proper honours board now, which has all that information on it.
‘‘So he was a general allround good guy really, quite serious at times, but he was a good guy.’’
Born in Dunedin to Harry and Kathleen Bennett on June 13, 1937, his endeavours throughout his life showed him to be a passionate figure.
He attended Dunedin North Intermediate but did not go to high school.
He began a career with the Ministry of Works, during which he worked on the roads and spent time in Alexandra.
It was there he began rowing — for the Alexandra Rowing Club — in 1961. That year he placed third in the novice four at the national championships in Christchurch.
He returned to Dunedin the following year, joined the North End Rowing Club and continued the sport for five years.
After that it was his offwater involvement that took over.
Mr Bennett coached
University crews through the 1960s, before managing Otago provincial crews through the 1970s.
He coached a novice crew to sixth place at the 196869 national championships and obtained his NZARA umpire’s licence at the same regatta.
That was the beginning of 21 years of umpiring.
He was named North End club member of the year in 1974, was president from 1975 to 1977 and awarded life membership in 1978.
Meanwhile, in 1973 he began his first stint as a delegate on the Otago Rowing Association, which continued through to the mid1980s.
He resumed that post in 1988 and remained to the early 2000s.
Notably, he was the association’s president and chairman in 1977, also being president in 1990.
In 2000 he was awarded a New Zealand Rowing Service Award Blazer for services to the association.
He was also awarded life membership of the Otago Rowing Association in 2000.
In 2010 he was made patron of the North End club, a position he held on his own through to 2014.
At that point he decided he was not doing the job well enough. However, given it was an honorarytype position, the club decided to keep him on in a shared role.
‘‘Les was happy with the decision and there was no way that the club was going to entertain the idea of taking the position away from Les,’’ Mr Wilson said.
Outside rowing, he married Patricia Anne Bennett (nee Wright) on May 1, 1965, at St Joseph’s Cathedral, a relationship which lasted until Patricia’s death.
The couple raised three children, Martin, Peter and Lara, and remained in Dunedin.
Sport remained a huge part of Mr Bennett’s life, as did his work at the Dunedin City Council.
There he eventually became a draughtsman for the water department — a position he held until he retired aged 65.
Alongside his rowing pursuits, he was a keen player and follower of the Kaikorai Rugby Club, while also coaching his son Peter’s team at the club.
He also spent many years refereeing the game and played for the Otago referees team.
In his early years he enjoyed motorbiking and competed in races around the South. He joined the Hill City athletics club when Peter began running in the 1990s.
He was also actively involved with the Ravensbourne boating club alongside his brother Bob.
There he supported son
Martin — who raced for the club — and worked on a number of Martin’s racing yachts in his workshop at the family home.
After retiring, he joined the Otago Model Engineering Society, where he built and sailed model boats.
Son Peter said loyalty and attention to detail were two of his father’s most notable traits.
‘‘A lot of the things that came out from other people was he had a real sense of loyalty around things.
‘‘His association with North End, which was for 50odd years, pretty loyal to that.
‘‘He was a regular player and follower of Kaikorai Rugby Club and when I then played for Kaikorai he coached my team and supported Kaikorai through the years.’’
He was loyal to his family, being married to Patricia for 48 years, and also built his family home and lived there until his stroke.
On top of that both Peter and Royce Wilson described him as a ‘‘stickler for the rules’’.
That came through both in his rowing officiating, but also in other areas.
Peter said his father’s handwriting was some of the neatest he had ever seen, while his job required fine detail drawings.
It came through in his rugby refereeing, as well as in his latter years, in the detail involved in the model boats he made.
He had a good sense of humour and continued his volunteer work until his health declined.
Mr Bennett is survived by his three children, daughtersinlaw Debbie and Stephanie, and grandchildren Stella, Elise and Christian.
— Jeff Cheshire