Commitment to local community, environment never waned
FRED INDER was a communityoriented man synonymous with Te Anau and its boating and marine community.
He died in Gore on March 25, aged 90, the day before the Covid19 Alert Level 4 lockdown began.
Due to strict restrictions around social gatherings, family were both unable to sit with him during his final hours and attend his cremation.
Mr Inder always wanted to die in his beloved Te Anau, but his deteriorating health in his final months meant this was not possible.
Many knew Mr Inder as the Te Anau boat harbour warden, a title he held for 27 years, from 1992 to 2018.
Daughter Viv Tamblyn said he was described as “Te Anau’s champion of the waterways” and “the eye of the community”.
“Dad had a deep commitment to the environment and Te Anau community and worked countless voluntary hours over nearly 30 years in his determination to make a difference,” Mrs Tamblyn said.
Te Anau Fish and Game officer and guardian of the lakes Bill Jarvie said Mr Inder was a highly valued member of the community who had a fundamental interest in and concern for the natural environment.
“He had a fundamental contact with the community . . . that was his real strength.”
Te Anau Boating Club president Rodger Cunninghame said Mr Inder, a keen fly fisherman, was a “true gentleman’’ with an incredible knowledge of trout.
Frederick Hugh Inder was born in Wellington on January 31, 1930, the only child of
Ronald Herbert Inder and Marion “Minnie” Rankin.
His father died of tuberculosis in Dunedin Hospital in 1936 when Mr Inder was just 6. He was shortly after raised by relatives and foster families.
Formative education began in Dunedin, where he attended multiple schools before moving to Waikaka School, 26km north of Gore.
This was followed by secondary schooling at Gore High School, where he excelled in rugby and boxing.
After finishing education, he started his own farm contracting business. It was through this work he would meet his wife, Alva May Horrell — she was 16, he was 18 — and they were married a few years later in the Gore Anglican Church Hall on December 8, 1951.
His calling for the next few years would lead to working on farms, driving tractors and as a mechanic before going on to sell farm machinery.
In 1958, he was approached by Ian Sutherland to open a garage servicing vehicles in the old Waikaka Hall, and Inderland Services Ltd officially opened its doors on January 28, 1959.
This progressed to trading in cars, caravans and boats, and he became a subdealer for Datsun vehicles.
Mrs Tamblyn said he was an “astute businessman who always did his homework.”
In the early 1970s, he opened a second garage in Gore — a successful business after obtaining a direct franchise dealership with Nissan. This went on to become the top commercial dealer in the country in 1982.
Mrs Tamblyn and her husband bought the Waikaka business in 1977.
In 1988, Mr and Mrs Inder semiretired to Te Anau and their son, Garry Inder, took over the Gore business, which he still runs today. But this certainly didn’t mean Mr Inder’s life was starting to slow down.
For many years, Mr Inder could be regularly seen driving around the Te Anau Basin, keeping a watchful eye on behalf of New Zealand Fish & Game and the Guardians of the Lakes, a statutory government body.
Across 35 years in Te Anau, he held many titles: he served on the Fish & Game council as an honorary ranger from 1993 to 2016, and spent 15 years as an elected councillor with the same organisation.
In 1998, he started working for Meridian Energy and subsequently spent two decades looking after the water quality and fish passage on the Lower Waiau River.
“He monitored the beach water quality for Environment Southland by taking samples of water at Blue Gum Point and Frasers Beach, once a month,” Mrs Tamblyn said.
On top of all this, he was a guardian of Lakes Manapouri, Monowai and Te Anau for 20 years until 2017.
The guardians were established under the Conservation Act in the 1970s as a result of the Save Manapouri Campaign. The group has since had a prominent place in the history of conservation in New Zealand.
In 2010, Environment Southland recognised Mr Inder’s dedication to the health of Southland's waters with an individual environmental award.
In May 2016, Mr and Mrs
Inder were each awarded a Southland District Council Community Service Award for 23 years service to the Te Anau Boat Club.
That same year, they were awarded the Kiwibank Local Heroes Award, an achievement which recognises people whose selflessness and determination has made a difference in the community.
“We are a closeknit family and all loved and respected him,” Mrs Tamblyn said.
“We were proud to call him dad and we miss him. Covid19 has been heartbreaking, robbing us of a final farewell, and not being able to comfort distressed family has been tough.”
Mr Inder is survived by his wife of 68 years, Alva, along with children Terry, Garry and Viv, all of whom live in Gore. He also had six grandchildren and five greatgrandchildren.
— Hugh Collins