Inseparable pair die on same day
Granddaughter says having devoted Kaikohe couple dying so close to each other was ‘a beautiful thing’
AKaikohe couple who were inseparable for more than 60 years died the same day. Peter and Ruth Bedford died hours apart on May 14. Cadence Bedford said her grandfather, who was 86, was admitted to hospital on the Saturday evening.
“We had a feeling [Ruth] decided he wasn’t coming back.”
Her grandmother, who was 83, died at 10am on Monday and the family got a message to Peter — he died about nine hours later.
Cadence Bedford described her grandparents passing away on the same day as “a beautiful thing”.
She said the family are looking forward to celebrating the wellknown couple’s lives together. “That’s something incredibly special.”
Peter and Ruth were married on December 30, 1957 after meeting at a dance in Auckland.
Bedford said her grandparents were the “salt of the earth”.
Her grandmother was as sharp as a tack, she said. “If she could help or could solve some sort of problem, she was in there.”
Her grandfather was a deep thinker who didn’t say much.
“When he did speak, people tended to listen.”
The couple moved to Kaikohe in 1980, where Ruth worked as a law clerk, and Peter spent time as the caretaker at Northland College. He retired when he was 80. Heather and Keith Ineson are both former presidents of the Kaikohe AP&H Show committee and they worked closely with the Bedfords.
Peter Bedford joined the committee in 1988, becoming the secretary five years later. He held the position until 2008.
“He did a very long service and Ruth helped him a lot,” Heather Ineson said. As a secretary, “he did everything”.
Peter Bedford had an office set up in the bottom of his home. “He was brilliant, I could go there, go down to his office and he’d have everything in boxes all labelled up ready to go.”
She said unlike many other committee members, the Bedfords didn’t enter the show themselves.
Heather Ineson said when Peter Bedford retired from the committee, he continued to help out with the small animal and rare breeds section on show day, up until recently.
The couple were also very involved with the tramping club, and Ruth Bedford used to teach yoga.
“They had a beautiful garden. Nothing out of place, they loved their garden, they spent a lot of time in it.” The couple also loved corgis. The Bedfords leave behind three children and two grandchildren.
Their funeral will be held at Squire Funeral Services in Kaikohe tomorrow. Heather Ineson said the reception after the funeral would be held at the showgrounds.