Hundreds turn out to farewell Sir Doug

A crowd of hundreds farewelled Sir Douglas Myers, the long-time chief executive of Lion Breweries and Lion Nathan.

More than 400 people gathered at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland to pay their respects to one of New Zealand’s most prominent businessmen.

Campbell Myers remembered his father as ‘‘the true lion king’’. ‘‘He was larger than life.’’

Sir Douglas died in London on April 8 after a long battle with cancer. He was 78.

His funeral was held in London two weeks ago and his ashes were returned to New Zealand for the memorial service. Family friend Reverend Warner Wilder, who led the service, described Sir Douglas as a visionary.

Sir Douglas was born in 1938 and came from a high-profile family. His grandfather, Sir Arthur Myers, was mayor of Auckland from 1905 to 1909.

He began his ascent of the corporate ladder in 1965, when he was appointed chief executive of Campbell & Ehrenfried. After a number of mergers, Lion Breweries was created, which went on to become Lion Nathan.

Long-time friend Peter Thomas described Sir Douglas as being generous, passionate and sincere as a businessman and in his personal relationships.

Sir Douglas was knighted in 2010 for for services to business and the community.

A friend and former executive director of Lion Nathan, Mike Smith, said Sir Douglas was a great New Zealander.

‘‘Douglas was the most influential man in my life,’’ Smith said.

In 2008, Sir Douglas was diagnosed with bowel cancer and spent much of his later life fighting the disease. In 2013, he revealed that the cancer had returned fiercely and doctors told him he only had a matter of months to live.

Sir Douglas was also remembered for his philanthropy, setting up the Sir Douglas Myers Scholarship which awards year 13 students $100,000 to study at Cambridge University.

Sir Douglas is survived by his wife Barbara, and three children from an earlier marriage: Jessica, Laura and Campbell.