Citizen of the world Simmons also an inspired businessman
On a Chinese freighter bound for Sri Lanka, Aldren Simmons looked around the ship asking for food for his younger siblings.
It was 1942, and the Simmons family was fleeing Myanmar. The Japanese were bombing the country and they needed to get out.
At just 11 years old, Aldren already possessed the kind, reliable nature that would characterise him for the rest of his life.
The self-proclaimed citizen of the world died on October 6 in Blenheim, aged 86, thousands of kilometres and decades on from his birth in what was then the British colony of Ceylon, in 1931.
‘‘He never wanted to be rich or famous, he just wanted to be a good father and a good husband, and this he was,’’ said his wife, Peb Simmons.
The couple met in Canada in 1956 – two years after Aldren emigrated from the United Kingdom after a stint with the Royal Air Force.
Neither had intended to go, but they both ended up at a dance in Toronto and, when the lines of young men and women stopped, they found themselves face-toface.
From the get-go, Aldren loved sharing memories of his childhood in Southeast Asia and India, where in 1947 he witnessed the partition of the country.
Seeing the terrible massacres and streams of people heading to the newlycreated Pakistan left a lasting impression, Peb said.
‘‘He was outgoing and friendly with everybody, yet at the same time he was very aware of things that could go wrong.’’
The couple and their young family moved to Christchurch in 1961. After living through World War II, they wanted a safe harbour from the nuclear stand-off threatening the globe.
During their life together in New Zealand, Aldren would often call Peb on his travels, and from his tone of voice she knew he had someone with him he wanted to help. ‘‘He always cared about people, he didn’t have to know them. If they were strangers he would find out what their needs were and if he could help he would.’’
Aldren was also somewhat of a visionary when it came to business. In 1963, he founded the first temporary office personnel agency in the country.
Despite initial scepticism from the business community, Peak Time Office Services – which hired mainly young woman – proved to be hugely successful.
A less fruitful venture, but one equally ahead of its time, was the establishment of a holiday home exchange in the 1970s.
Aldren aimed to create a database of people interested in swapping their homes with other holidaymakers, but in the pre-internet age it failed to take-off.
His daughter, Virginia Simmons, said it showed how ahead of the time her father was though. His business prestige led to him being headhunted in the early 1970s by the American oil company Wynn’s to be its New Zealand distributor.
Peb and Aldren had five children, and Peb said her late husband, who died on their 61st wedding anniversary, was a fantastic father. ‘‘I used to say to the children, you get a lot of good mums but not many good dads, and you’ve got one of the best,’’ she said.
Whenever the children needed anything, Aldren would find it. He also emphasised the importance of education, for his daughters and sons.
‘‘His phrase was, ‘if you get that piece of paper, nobody can take it away from you once you’ve got it and the world will be yours’,’’ Virginia said.
Aside from business ventures, Aldren took great delight in cooking and gardening. He would trawl his mother’s Sri Lankan cookbooks and spend hours grinding spices and preparing curries.
Peb and Aldren moved to Blenheim in
2011 after their home in the Christchurch suburb of Merivale was damaged beyond repair in the February 2011 earthquake.
Even there, Peb would occasionally come home to find someone Aldren had met and invited over for a drink or a meal.
‘‘He always cared about people,’’ she said.
Aldren is survived by his wife Peb, their four surviving children – Mark, Louise, Virginia and Matthew – and their
11 grandchildren.