Family man’s life less ordinary
Strong in spirit and kind of heart, James Nicholas MacDonald the second, known to all affectionately as ‘‘Cappy’’, had many passions in life but it was his family for whom he saved his unfaltering love and loyalty.
It was therefore only fitting that many of his beloved whanau were with him when he died on December 9, 2017 at his Wairau Bar home near Blenheim aged 90 years.
Cappy, given the moniker as the eldest of 21 children and therefore taking on a captain like role, was, first and foremost, a family man.
A dearly loved husband of Karangaranga Sarah (Bub) and a much-loved dad of Marilyn, Joy, the late April, Raewyn, Sheree, Jo Ann, and the late Alec, Cappy was a force to be reckoned with, his spark and joy in life a delight to those who knew him.
A much loved grandfather koro and papa, his life’s journey took him along many different paths but the devotion and respect of his large clan never faltered; the bonds of their connection always there no matter where Cappy went in the world.
The gap left by the loss of such a beloved patriarch, father, son, brother, grandfather and greatgrandfather is as vast as the character of the man who lived his life with such strength and delight.
Cappy’s 90th birthday in February this year featured a guest list that ran into the hundreds, befitting of a man who touched the lives of so many.
Born in 1927 to James Nicholas MacDonald, known as Manny MacDonald, and Horina Phillips, of Rangitane and Ngati Rarua, Cappy was just 8 years old when his mother died. His father later remarried and Horina’s sister Tauru, with whom he had 17 children, became his wife.
Cappy was brought up by his grandparents and they moved around when he was a child. After a few years attending primary school at Wairau Pa¯, he moved with his grandparents to Puketea and Aniseed (now Rakautara), on the Kaiko¯ura coast, where they set up two different shops geared towards railway workers.
After Cappy left school, he worked hard to further his education at night school and between milking the cows twice a day he cycled to classes to become a qualified surveyor. He later became a chief draughtsman and worked in various places, including undertaking surveying work in Samoa where daughter Sheree Tatana, was born.
‘‘He wanted us to all fill our potential and see the world,’’ she said.
‘‘We did the cryptic crossword in the Dominion newspaper every day and would call each other if we got stuck on clues.
‘‘He believed the brain had to be nurtured.’’
It was the Wairau Bar in Marlborough, not far from his brothers Brigham and Phillip MacDonald, that Cappy returned to live the last years of his life.
For Cappy, the bar meant home, both literally in the house he built himself, but also spiritually. It was a place where he found peace and contentment.
Two of Cappy’s daughters still call Marlborough home; Jo Ann and Raewyn MacDonald. He also has children living in the North Island and Australia. He has 13 grandchildren and 36 greatgrandchildren.
With his shock of white hair, bristling eyebrows and a smile that lit up his whole face, Cappy made friends easily. With a wonderful sense of humour, a genuine interest in others and a complete lack of pretension, he was as likeable as he was mischievous.
There were few like him, Tatana said.
‘‘He liked people. He would give the shirt off his back. He really enjoyed family and cared for them but he’d always look after strangers too. He was very dry, very sharp and very intelligent with a great sense of humour.
‘‘He gave his nieces presents for Christmas once and told them they were pictures but that he didn’t think they’d like them. When they opened them, they found he had given them mirrors,’’ she said.
His talent for forming friendships stood him in good stead as he tried out many jobs across the country and even abroad, turning his talents to a variety of professions, from mapmaking and surveying to dairy farming and draughtsmanship.
It was in dairy farming that he later found his niche as he ran the farm started by his father at the Wairau Bar. Both Cappy and his late brother Mugwi worked together with their father on the farm before a back injury saw Cappy begin work as a taxi driver in Blenheim.
Along with family, golf was a passion that captured Cappy’s heart and both he and Mugwi became a famous sight on the Marlborough golf circuit, heads bent in quiet conversation and contemplation as they eyed-up the hole ahead, clubs at the ready.
After Mugwi died, Cappy lost not just a much-loved brother but his favourite golf partner and he did not have the heart to continue playing. He gifted his golf clubs on, paving the way for a new generation of MacDonalds to contest the much sought-after MacDonald Cup, which the family donated in 1967.
Cappy’s dedication to his vast family gave his life meaning, Tatana said. The family’s written history stretches into volumes and he got great pleasure from delving into the family’s past and adding the results of his own research into the family tree.
Four years ago, as the thenoldest member of the family, Cappy was proud to have unveiled a flag at a reunion at Omaka Marae in Blenheim.
More than 500 MacDonald family members came together from as far away as Utah in the United States.
‘‘He was born to be a father and was the very best father I could have had,’’ Tatana said.
A service for Cappy was held at the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints on December 13, followed by interment at the Ma¯ori Island urupa.