The dead tell tales
killed on active service during the World War II.
Bowls was very much part of Ernie Butt’s life and he competed in club events for many years. He was a member of the Claudelands Bowling Club. Of special note was his work as a justice of the peace, his role as registrar of the Waikato Justices of the Peace Association and 12 years as editor of the New Zealand Justices Quarterly. He was very involved with St Aidan’s Church in Heaphy Terrace.
On the day of his death (July 14, 1966) the Waikato Times carried two articles, one on the front page with a more formal portrait and a longer article (p.4) with the opening paragraph ‘‘There’s a vacant chair in The Times office and an old bicycle gathering dust in a shed’’ with a photo of Butt on his bicycle. The article was written by chief reporter Claude Coumbe, whose affection for his colleague is apparent: ‘‘The Times office will never be quite the same again ... Gone is the distinctive, raucous laughter, the enthusiastic greeting for the solid citizens he numbered among his friends, the not-so-enthusiastic greeting for those who ‘didn’t quite come up to scratch’ ... Ernie Butt was never one to judge a man ... but he made it clear that improvement was desirable’’.
Coumbe also mentions Butt’s many kindnesses and the faithful way he visited patients at Waikato Hospital every Sunday. Evidently after he died, his widow received lots of messages from people whom he had done things for, most of whom she didn’t know.
In his office at The Times were drawers filled with newspaper clippings: ‘‘tangible evidence of a presence which made us the richer’’ (Waikato Times, July 14, 1966) – these clippings are now pasted into scrapbooks, copies of which are available at Hamilton Libraries, Level 3 in the main library. There is a card index for this excellent resource of items relating to Waikato history, national issues and Maori artefacts and archaeological sites.