‘Wig’ Wilson was in his element when telling a good story
Obituary: Noel Leo ‘Wig’ Wilson, 1932-2021
Wig Wilson could tell stories. They could be long, allusive affairs but for those with the patience to pay proper attention – the majority, given the man’s magnetic charm – the payoff was substantial.
One of Wig’s better yarns went something like this. Many years ago, he and a few like-minded racing friends visited Taranaki.
Wig had a horse running in the following day’s event. After the steed was bedded down, they ventured out to a nearby public house. As beers were downed, it became apparent that one of their number was having success in the amorous pursuits. The lucky gentleman requested some alone time in the room the group were sharing.
His mates readily agreed and left the establishment about ten minutes before closing.
A plan was swiftly hatched. Wig and the boys went back to the stable, where a Shetland pony, a support animal for one of the highly strung thoroughbreds, was to be found. Liberating the beast from its stall, they led it across the carpark, into the foyer and up the hotel stairs.
Some women fantasise about being gifted a pony. Sadly, this was not the attitude of the young lady from the public house. When she and her amour entered the room, the lights were off. As Shetland’s finest made its presence felt, lovemaking abruptly ceased.
A piercing screech was heard, the door flung open and an escape made.
Hotel management was bewildered. The constabulary was involved. Wig and company swore they had no knowledge of how a miniature horse had found itself in their room. For its part, the Shetland Pony kept mum.
If the story said much about Wig’s sense of humour and capacity to tease, it is far from illustrative in other matters of character. A man of integrity, what you saw was usually what you got.
Noel Leo Wilson was born on January 15, 1932, in Ngā ruawā hia, on the farm he was to live and work on for 84 years.
He was the second son of Leo and Rita Wilson, a younger brother to Harry. Attending Ngā ruawā hia Primary School and Hamilton High School, his formal education ceased when his father became ill and he was required on the farm.
When Leo died, Wig continued to run the farm with Rita, milking cows as well as breeding and training horses.
Wig enjoyed sports from a young age and was a New Zealand schoolboy representative in rugby league, playing fullback. He rode horses throughout his childhood and was a member of the Hamilton Light Horse Club, competing at shows. Racquet sports were other, favoured recreation, with Wig making significant contribution to the interclub results of both the Taupiri Tennis Club and the Ngā ruawā hia Squash Club, in later life often against opponents a fraction of his age.
Wig considered marrying Nan Rennie in April 1964 to be his ‘‘greatest achievement’’.
When quizzed by a granddaughter about what was ‘‘proudest’’, he replied ‘‘helping to raise a family with Nan’’. They had three daughters: Suzanne, Louise and Catherine.
The most social of men, another nephew says Wig was ‘‘a charmer and a flirt’’ who ‘‘would stop and talk to anyone, remember their name and something special about them [for] next time and store that information away in his place called ‘everyone and everything’ ’’. If he liked to tell stories he also had the patience and the generosity of time to listen to those of others.
‘‘Horses’’, as one old friend puts it, ‘‘were in Wig’s blood’’. His father Leo had co-trained Foxwyn, the winner of the 1944 Auckland Cup and as himself an owner, breeder and trainer, it was an example Wig strove to emulate. Innis Lad, trained by the late, great Laurie Laxon, was perhaps his most successful horse, with 11 wins and eight placings from 82 races, many of the triumphs coming at Te Rapa.
Dreamawin, a brood mare, distinguished herself by coming second more often than not whilst Star Reason, both bred and trained by Wig, managed the impressive feat of besting Rough Habit, a two time New Zealand Horse of the Year, again at Te Rapa.
At Ellerslie and throughout the Waikato, Wig loved attending race meetings, as much for the company as the competition, seldom staying in one place for any length of time. A magnificent public speaker, scornful of those who required notes to give a speech, he came into his own whenever handed a winner’s trophy. The oration he delivered at Awapuni, after his horse Kingsinga won the Marton Cup in 2007, is remembered fondly to this day.
Wig was a long time member of the Auckland Racing Club and the Waikato Racing Club and was an honorary member of the Cambridge Jockey Club.
Wig and Nan maintained a social house of the type where the kettle was always on and scones freshly baked. Visitors were often enlisted into service, especially in haymaking season.
If there is one constant in stories about Wig, it involves hay, both his capacity to outwork men half his age or more and his recruitment – and reward – strategies.
Wig and Nan travelled extensively for both business and recreation, visiting Europe, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, the United States and Cuba as well as all parts of New Zealand and Australia.
His procurement of an Armani suit whilst across the ditch and subsequent showcasing of its inner lining – suitably labelled – at Ellerslie were hallmarks of a man with an eye for a sartorial bargain.
Wig valued hard work and selfreliance. He was devoted to his family and was an integral part of his community for the best part of nine decades.
As one nephew remarked, ‘‘there was no role he played . . . the Wig we saw and knew and loved was entirely Wig, no facade . . . he gave you of himself 100 per cent, the bluntness, the honesty, the laughs, the jokes and the politics – it was all out there, in your face . . .’’
Noel Leo Wilson died November 25, 2021.
He is survived by his three daughters, their respective spouses and six grandchildren.