Couple both on list
Ronald Howe says they were astounded to receive the Queen’s Service Medal but the wonderful thing was that he and wife Ngaire were both honoured for their work in the community.
The years of being able to work together in community work shows in the way they relate to each other and in the stories of their service.
In the 2001 International Year of the Volunteer Ronald gave a keynote speech, “servant leads leadership” at the UN.
Volunteers are the glue of the community . . . nothing happens without other people involved, Ronald and Ngaire say.
Ronald was senior tutor in marketing and business at the-then Wanganui Polytech in 1991, and it was at this time he also chaired two liver transplant fundraisers.
The first was for a seven-month-old boy who was flown to Brisbane, but the transplant was unsuccessful.
The extra money raised was placed in a trust which was then approved for a liver transplant for a 40-year-old woman.
Ronald chaired the rebuild of the Whanganui Hospital Chapel and Ngaire was secretary to the chaplain for two years.
At this time two men came to Ronald and asked if he could help them to refloat the Waimarie which had sunk and been covered in silt for decades in the Whanganui River.
The Waimarie Trust was started and Ronald and Ngaire were on that first millennium voyage of the paddle steamer.
Another project the couple started, now in its second year, was the centenary project for the Napier RSA which supports young people with scholarships to study in the health and social sectors.
Ronald is a life member and Ngaire administrator, a role she has filled throughout the years of their community work.
She was also a Girl Guide leader for two years and a Sunday school teacher.
They’ve volunteered in Papua New Guinea where Ronald was adviser to the polytech, and he also spent a year as strategic adviser to East New Britain, a 11⁄2 hour jet boat ride from PNG. Ngaire said she became the librarian, which was a steep learning curve. They also helped set up the joint New Zealand/Samoa volunteers into the Pacific in Apia.
The couple moved from Napier in June last year to live in the Julia Wallace Retirement Village to be closer to family after Ngaire hurt her back in a fall.
They love their new home, and now they’ve plans to continue their community work. It’s under wraps at the moment, they said, but all will be revealed soon.
Their community service has swept them along from when they both became involved with East Coast Bay Lions in 1966.
“It’s been 45 years full-on, since I came out of the navy and Ngaire was nursing in Napier.”