Tributes flow for caring local leader
Colleagues ‘shattered' by loss of councillor Richard Crawford
Tributes are flowing for Bay of Plenty “community champion” and “rare human” Richard Crawford, who died after suffering a heart attack while biking in Rotorua.
The Maketu¯-te Puke councillor and former Te Puke Community Board leader passed away Sunday morning after the medical incident on Saturday, Western Bay of Plenty District Council said in a statement.
Chairwoman of Te Puke Community Board Kassie Ellis described the former Te Puke volunteer firefighter as the “epitome of a community champion” and “tireless in wanting the best for his town”.
Ellis said “nothing was impossible” for Crawford, that he never gave up on his mission to “leave this world a better place”.
“Richie, it’s been a privilege. For now, goodbye to our strong leader, community navigator, empathetic listener and friend.”
Maketu¯-te Puke councillor Grant Dally said Crawford would be remembered as a “rare human” who cared about those less fortunate.
“The difference was, he got on, did the mahi, mustered people, and created organisations to satisfy needs in the community – and was very successful at it.”
Dally said he met the recreational cyclist in 2012 while working on what would become the popular Te Ara Kahikatea Pathway.
Dally nominated Crawford for Te Puke Community Board in 2019. Crawford served his term as chairman before being elected a district councillor in 2022, and had “really found his confidence and voice in the role”.
Dally described him as an empathetic, inclusive leader keen to forge better relationships with mana whenua and ethnic communities. “We will miss him.”
The Daily Charitable Trust general manager Chrissi Robinson said chairman Crawford was a visionary for the birth 10 years ago of the organisation, which runs Te Puke’s award-winning social enterprise The Daily Cafe among other initiatives.
She described him as generous, positive and as comfortable making high-level trust decisions as he was “grabbing a tool from the ute to do some maintenance”.
Robinson said he “genuinely loved people” and was the trust’s “schmoozer”, showing endless energy as he took on challenges in his 60s.
She said he spoke of two passions driving his work with the charity: A desire to leave the town he loved “better than [he] found it”, and his faith and deep personal friendship with Jesus, which she believed he would have wanted other people to know.