An amazing sportsman, dad, and Papa
Dad was born, Gary Wallace Morrison, on September 3, 1940, at Bollard St in Tuakau, older son to Keith and Emily Morrison. He was followed in June 1944 by his brother Ashley.
The Morrison clan has been hit hard these last few years.
We lost our amazing Nana in October 2020 at the incredible age of 103, and in February, one month to the day we lost Dad, Uncle Ashley passed away. We send our love to his whanau.
Dad grew up in Tuakau, where Nana and Grandad ran Morrison’s tea rooms and home cookery. Dad would often help out but, as Nana once remarked, he also helped himself to a great many lollies! This comes as no surprise to us, he was well known for his sweet tooth.
Dad attended Tuakau Primary and then Pukekohe High School, where he held the positions of head boy, captain of the first fifteen, and drum major.
He was also an amazing sportsman, excelling particularly in rugby and tennis. He played fullback for the Pukekohe senior team and was a member of the 1960s championship-winning team coached by the late great Torrie Roose. He also played for the Bs Premier Reserve, Counties Colts 1962, and senior rugby for Tuakau.
Tennis was Dad’s great passion, and he devoted many hours to playing, coaching and administration. He held every position in Counties tennis over a period of 20 years, he was delegate to the Auckland Tennis Association, a regular columnist in the Franklin County News and was made a life member in 1991.
With good friends in tennis –
Brian Hosking, Keith Matheson and his very great friend John Mitchell – Dad was instrumental in the planning, financing and construction of the tennis complex in West St in Pukekohe.
In 1994, Dad was the second person to ever win the New Zealand Tennis Administration Award.
Post high school, Dad worked at Campbell White & Co in Pukekohe, doing accounting work, until he and Mary Sheehan married in November 1964, and they then spent a year living and working in Sydney.
Returning to New Zealand, Dad ran the Centreway Milk Bar in King St Pukekohe for a few years before going into accounting partnership with Maurice Hayes in Papakura until 1980, when he opened his own business in Pukekohe and then went into partnership with Mike Conlan. In 1992, Mum and Dad moved to Auckland, where Dad undertook accounting work on a contractual basis, and he also took the position of Secretary Manager of the Papakura Tennis and Squash Club.
Mum’s sudden and unexpected death in November 1995 at the age of 51 turned our world upside down. We watched Dad grieve and his light dim. Life went on, albeit altered. Dad continued to work as in accounting and one day, some years later, he said he had received a phone call from a Willi
Wolf, or Willi Klipsch as he had known her at high school.
And so Willi came into our lives and we saw Dad’s light shine again. They were married in 1998 and our family expanded to include Tom and Rachael. The next wee while saw our family expand with the addition of partners, husbands and wives and a respectable total of grandchildren. Dad was an amazing Papa, funny, kind and generous.
Over the next few years, Dad and Willi moved to Clark’s Beach and then to Hikurangi. Dad loved to sit in the sun on the deck and look out over the hills, once he’d finished raking the leaves with the help of their faithful dog, Morley. He’d often ring us from that spot and describe the scenery and the volume of leaves he dealt with that day!
Dad retired in his late 70s. Sadly that damned dementia had already come knocking and we watched Dad diminish in body and mind. In July 2021, Dad underwent major cancer surgery, which altered him greatly. He moved to Alice Court at Kamo Home and Village, and I would like to thank them most sincerely for their care of our Dad.
Dad passed away on March 9 with Rachael and his adored Wolfie by his side. He went peacefully surrounded by love and he will live in our hearts forever.