By Ivan Johnstone. Des passed away on 26 December 2016 at the age of 82

In 1977 I joined the Mangere East Running Club. My introduction to the club was an inter-club race held at One Tree Hill, and it was Des who gave me a ride to the race. On our way back home, Des strongly advised me to ditch my Bata Bullets and buy a decent pair of running shoes. I took up Des’s advice and after 40 years of running I have never had any serious leg injuries.

Unlike other running clubs, the Mangere East Running Club insisted on Saturday club races instead of pack runs when there were no inter-club races. A number of senior runners in the club who were keen on running marathons therefore set up a pack run on Sunday mornings. This group gravitated around Des who had one or two marathons under his belt, and we frequently set out from his home in Mangere Bridge. This group included George McLaren, Johnny Fitton, and Bruce who had been a 2 hours 30 minute marathon runner in his younger days. As the season progressed it was Des who inspired me to also run marathons.

When you run on a regular basis with other runners for 2 to 3 hours and longer, you get to know your fellow runners very well. During these long runs and back at home base we had great conversations on all topics. As the years rolled by, Des’s family and my family got to know each other very well and we shared many a New Year’s Eve together. When my wife Pam had a fat fire in our home unit which resulted in extensive smoke damage, it was Des she contacted to break the news to me. When our family car was stolen, it was Des who drove me to the Police Station to collect the retrieved car.

Des and I shared the same politics. One of my favourite memories was when I was at his home watching the results of the national elections. At the announcement of the results of Robert Muldoon’s electorate, Claire started to kick a plastic Piggy Muldoon money box around the floor. It was hilarious when we all encouraged her to continue doing so.

Des has faced some adversity in life. While working in the unventilated bowels of an office building in downtown Auckland, he caught a serious lung infection which resulted in confinement to a hospital bed with a collapsed lung. For a few days we all feared for the worst. It was due to his positive attitude that he eventually made a recovery with the assistance of steroids which I understand he had to take for the rest of his life. Des continued to run and complete yet another marathon. Later on in life, he took up cycling and remained physically active throughout his 60s and early 70s.

It was after knowing Des for over 30 years that we discovered we both had a passion for playing the chromatic harmonica. On each of my more recent visits to Auckland from Dunedin I called in on him and Chrissie and we had a number of jam sessions together. It is a shame that we didn’t do this many years earlier.

Des has lived a very rich and full life and he has formed many strong and enduring friendships. I feel privileged to have been one of his close running mates. Des has been a staunch unionist and has served time on committees for the education of electrical apprentices. He has also been an assistant with Special Olympics swimming alongside Don Bidwell, a New Zealand Masters swimming champion. Above all, Des has been a devoted husband and a loving and supportive Father to Kathryn, Jason, Penny, and Claire. My deepest sympathies go to Chrissie and his children.

Des, I will miss you and your keen sense of humour, passion, and positive attitude to life. Thank you for your friendship. You will remain in my fond memories forever.

IVAN JOHNSTONE'S WEBSITE

WRITING - EULOGIES

Barry Young Eulogy

Barry passed away on 4 December 2014 at the age of 75

Barry and I first met at the Fanshawe Street Tepid Baths in 1980. We continued training together once per week for two years until we heard that the first world master swimming championships would be held in Christchurch two years later in 1984. We decided to give these championships a go – Christchurch was close by, why waste the opportunity? – so we each joined our local Master swimming club and started training together five days a week. There were no lane ropes in the pool back then, so we swam alongside each other, Barry swimming backstroke, his number one stroke, and I swam breaststroke. That is when Barry and I started to do double arm backstroke sculling between each effort to keep our lane occupied while resting.

When Barry and I first met he swam only backstroke and freestyle. I wasn’t going to have any of that. I managed to persuade Barry to include butterfly and medleys. Barry initially claimed that he was too old and stiff in the back to swim butterfly, but he persevered anyway and reaped the benefits a number of years later. Suzanne, can you remember what Barry used to say to you upon arriving home after a hard butterfly session? [Suzanne declined to say in public what Barry used to say: "That bloody Ivan!”] OK, you can ask me later on. When we started doing 266-yard medleys, Barry was 30 seconds behind. It was perhaps embarrassment that motivated Barry to persevere with his butterfly.

At what was called the first International Masters Swimming Championships held in Christchurch, Barry swam way beyond our expectations. Barry swam his backstroke events against the world record holder in the 45 to 49 age group and he won two Gold medals swimming a world master record in the 100 metre backstroke. The 100 metres backstroke medal and his first world record remained one of his most special achievements.

In 1986 John Fay redeveloped the pool at Fanshawe Street and swimming lanes were put up. We had scores of swimmers join us in the fast lane and the most common name was Mark and Bruce. Barry often used to say that he wouldn’t have managed to achieve his successes in swimming if he hadn’t swum with a group and that he couldn’t train by himself. Core members of our group included John Fisher, Noel Gracie, Bruce Walker, Les Hibbs, Bernadette Rae, and Robert Redford. Barry added the 200 and 400 meters medley world Masters records to his collection. We forgot that Barry was much older than many of us and he was well able to hold his own in training.

In the 1980s we were able to buy nylon swimming togs. I wish we could buy them now because they were very durable and lasted for years. Barry made his nylon togs last for years. They started out navy blue, turned purple, and when the backside of his togs started drooping, we managed to persuade him to buy a new pair of togs before they turned pink.

In the late 1980s, early 1990s, Barry did the same job at the Maritime School under contract and he started swimming in the mornings at Takapuna pool making new friends. He swam double the distance we could manage to do at lunch times and his swimming improved. In the year 2000, Barry and I took multiple video shots of our stroke technique, including underwater shots. At our lunch time swims we had limited to no time at all to devote to stroke technique. I already knew that my freestyle was crap, but I was horrified and mortified to see just how bad my backstroke was. I have tried to model my backstroke on Barry’s stroke technique ever since. Barry was able to see for himself that his butterfly and breaststroke had room for improvement. With Dix Ozier's input and refinement of his butterfly, Barry added the 100 and 200 meters butterfly world Masters records to his collection. In more recent years Don Bidwell refined his breaststroke technique. Don, where are you? I can’t see you without my glasses. Barry bettered the world masters record for the 70 to 74 age category by a substantial margin. The record wasn't ratified by FINA because the pool was too short by a few centimeters. I am sorry that I never had a good look at Barry’s breaststroke. He showed me his new breaststroke in the ocean which wasn’t the best place to see it. Well done, Don. 

Barry was twice listed by the magazine, Swimming World, as being one of the top ten Masters swimmers in the world and in 2010 he was the first NZ Masters swimmer to be inducted into the FINA World Swimming Hall of Fame. Barry has been undoubtedly the top Masters swimmer in New Zealand since 1984. I suggest that Barry has been the best Masters competitor ever in any sport in New Zealand. It is a shame that the Halberg Awards has not included a Masters category.

Although I have always admired and respected Barry' swimming abilities, it is his qualities as a person that makes him very special to me. I have been so fortunate to have met up with Barry, and I feel privileged and honoured to have had the opportunity to become one of his many friends. 

Barry, along with so many others here today, I will sorely miss your companionship, quiet humour, and humility. You have enriched the lives of so many people over and beyond the community of Masters swimming. You have swum your last lap and we are here today to pay tribute to you and to celebrate your life, and what a great life that has been. It has been a glorious life. 

My condolences go out to Barry's family and his many friends, including those who have been unable to be here today in person, but who are here with us in spirit.

Desmond O'Connell Eulogy

Des passed away on 26 December 2016 at the age of 82

In 1977 I joined the Mangere East Running Club. My introduction to the club was an inter-club race held at One Tree Hill, and it was Des who gave me a ride to the race. On our way back home, Des strongly advised me to ditch my Bata Bullets and buy a decent pair of running shoes. I took up Des’s advice and after 40 years of running I have never had any serious leg injuries.

Unlike other running clubs, the Mangere East Running Club insisted on Saturday club races instead of pack runs when there were no inter-club races. A number of senior runners in the club who were keen on running marathons therefore set up a pack run on Sunday mornings. This group gravitated around Des who had one or two marathons under his belt, and we frequently set out from his home in Mangere Bridge. This group included George McLaren, Johnny Fitton, and Bruce who had been a 2 hours 30 minute marathon runner in his younger days. As the season progressed it was Des who inspired me to also run marathons.

When you run on a regular basis with other runners for 2 to 3 hours and longer, you get to know your fellow runners very well. During these long runs and back at home base we had great conversations on all topics. As the years rolled by, Des’s family and my family got to know each other very well and we shared many a New Year’s Eve together. When my wife Pam had a fat fire in our home unit which resulted in extensive smoke damage, it was Des she contacted to break the news to me. When our family car was stolen, it was Des who drove me to the Police Station to collect the retrieved car.

Des and I shared the same politics. One of my favourite memories was when I was at his home watching the results of the national elections. At the announcement of the results of Robert Muldoon’s electorate, Claire started to kick a plastic Piggy Muldoon money box around the floor. It was hilarious when we all encouraged her to continue doing so.

Des has faced some adversity in life. While working in the unventilated bowels of an office building in downtown Auckland, he caught a serious lung infection which resulted in confinement to a hospital bed with a collapsed lung. For a few days we all feared for the worst. It was due to his positive attitude that he eventually made a recovery with the assistance of steroids which I understand he had to take for the rest of his life. Des continued to run and complete yet another marathon. Later on in life, he took up cycling and remained physically active throughout his 60s and early 70s.

It was after knowing Des for over 30 years that we discovered we both had a passion for playing the chromatic harmonica. On each of my more recent visits to Auckland from Dunedin I called in on him and Chrissie and we had a number of jam sessions together. It is a shame that we didn’t do this many years earlier.

Des has lived a very rich and full life and he has formed many strong and enduring friendships. I feel privileged to have been one of his close running mates. Des has been a staunch unionist and has served time on committees for the education of electrical apprentices. He has also been an assistant with Special Olympics swimming alongside Don Bidwell, a New Zealand Masters swimming champion. Above all, Des has been a devoted husband and a loving and supportive Father to Kathryn, Jason, Penny, and Claire. My deepest sympathies go to Chrissie and his children.

Des, I will miss you and your keen sense of humour, passion, and positive attitude to life. Thank you for your friendship. You will remain in my fond memories forever.

Angus Johnstone Eulogy

Angus passed away on 25 October 2024 at the age of 70

Angus was my younger brother by four years. He joined me and my two older brothers when he was two. We were living at the time with Agnes Frame, a foster parent who had physically and mentally abused us for 18 months before we older brothers were taken to the Lookout Point Boys Home. Angus was under the so called care of Agnes Frame for seven years until the age of nine when he joined us again under the care of Ron Malcolm, another foster parent. Angus was barely able to talk when he joined us. By the age of 14, Angus knew his alphabet, but had difficulty in spelling words correctly. I taught him a simplified phonetic system of spelling for two weeks before I left the Malcolm household and he made good progress. Many decades later my brother Keith and I found that he had used his own system of phonetic spelling in notes he had written to himself in many notebooks.

Upon leaving school, Angus assisted Ron Malcom who had set up a compost business when he retired in 1970. In 1976, Angus completed a course in Electric Arc Welding Practice at the Otago Polytechnic. Ron Malcolm had accompanied Angus during the course providing assistance where necessary. Angus passed the practical tests and an oral exam. He then worked as a welder at the Port Chalmers wharf under the supervision of the foreman. Angus’ workmates were not as compassionate and understanding as the foreman, and set out to embarrass him. Angus’ retaliation resulted in him being laid off and he fell into a deep depression, was diagnosed as being mentally ill, and was put on medication from then onwards. Angus worked for many decades at Cargill Enterprise in Dunedin, a sheltered work environment, where he refused to continue working at the repetitive robotic tasks at the age of 55.

As a young teenager, Angus had a passion for drawing intricate section views of imaginary spaceships which included many explanatory notes. He continued these drawings as an adult and these drawings provide a glimpse into the mind of someone whose verbal development had been retarded early in life. Most people had great difficulty in understanding what Angus tried to communicate due to his slurred speech which became even more slurred after receiving a monthly injection of medication instead of a daily oral dose. It must have been extremely frustrating for Angus not being able to communicate easily with others. Angus was shrewd and street savvy, and was the first in company to recognise a joke with a roar of laughter. His abilities were underestimated by many. Angus developed a strong interest in astronomy, collected many picture books on the subject, joined the Begg Observatory Society in Dunedin, wrote letters to NASA for information with the assistance of a flatmate, and visited NASA in the United States.

Angus joined the Mornington Harrier Club and participated in many races. When he lived in a flat in Port Chalmers, he used to walk to Dunedin and back. Unfortunately, Angus was introduced to smoking at the Port Chalmers wharf and became heavily addicted. I returned to Dunedin in 2006 and on his 52nd birthday we both climbed the steep sand dune at Sandspit at Aramoana Beach. At each of his successive birthdays, Angus’ physical condition progressively declined. By his 70th birthday, Angus was breathless walking only 50 metres and back to get an icecream. A few months later Angus was hospitalised on life support at the Dunedin Hospital. Glenda Wallace, his friend and Legal Guardian over Welfare, and I were there with Angus when he passed away peacefully.

Physical abuse by Agnes Frame had been identified by Forbury School and my elder brothers and I we were taken away to the Lookout Point Boys Home soon after. My brothers and I often wondered why Angus had been left under the care of Mrs Frame. Many decades later, I was finally able to gain full access to my Child Welfare Records. Even with heavy redaction, there is clear evidence that the Child Welfare Department had been negligent in letting Agnes Frame take care of Angus during his most formative years. The physical and mental abuse of Angus and his brothers by Agnes Frame had been extreme, but no Johnstone sibling has made a claim against the state in the recent Royal Commission into abuse while under state care. We believe that financial compensation cannot provide a remedy for abuse in the past. I am deeply saddened by Angus passing away and by the loss of what could have been.

Iona Cotton Eulogy

Iona passed away on 16 February 2025 at the age of 73.

The first time I got to know Iona, my sister, was when she was 10 years old and I was 12. Before then, I knew that I had two sisters, Barbara and Iona, who lived with the Price family. My brothers and I had met our sisters on a few brief occasions before they joined the Malcolm household. Ron Malcolm had become our foster parent some five years earlier.

When Barbara and Iona first arrived at 13 Ardmore Drive by the Oval in Dunedin, Iona wanted to play knuckle bones with me, a game of dexterity played with a number of small objects that are thrown up and caught again. I wasn’t so keen on doing that. I regarded knuckle bones as being a girly game, but Iona insisted I play with her not just once, but many times. Iona also taught me the game of knuckles which wasn’t quite so girly. Two opponents press their knuckles firmly against each other’s knuckles and take turns at striking the top of their opponents wrist before they had a chance to pull their hand back. It really stings if you lose and you miss a turn to do the same to your opponent.  

Because Iona and I were closer in age than my two older brothers, we shared many activities together. I taught Iona how to high jump by setting up two posts and a rail on the Oval outside our home and how to walk using stilts. Iona and I used to go roller skating on Saturdays on a regular basis. Back then, we walked from the Oval to the St Kilda skating rink, a journey of some miles. Iona joined the Kiwi Swimming Club alongside me and my brothers and soon became a medallist at the Otago Swimming Champs in her age group for backstroke. On one occasion, she beat Beryl Boberg, an Otago Champion. At Bayfield High School, Iona was the captain of the school’s basketball team.

When Iona was about 14, she left the Malcolm household under unfortunate circumstances and Mrs Cunningham became her new foster parent. Contact with Iona became more difficult when we no longer lived in the same household, but nonetheless we maintained contact with each other as we grew up to become adults. My wife Pam and I lived in Cumberland Street near the Otago University in the early 1970s. We had a fountain 12 x 12 stereo system and Iona  joined us and our friends on Friday nights for an LP session. LPs are long playing records for those who have played only CDs. Pam and I were invited to Iona’s parties and what was striking to me was that all her friends were friendly and decent caring people. The same applied to Iona. Pam and I shifted to Auckland with our daughter and son in 1975 and a few years later Iona stayed with us for a few days before flying to the United States where she lived for a number of years. We exchanged letters while  Iona was overseas.

A funeral is time for a celebration of one’s life and Iona has much to celebrate. While in the United States, Iona partially completed a degree course and, in doing so, developed a keen interest in caring for young teenagers and adults who were mentally and emotionally challenged. This became a decades long career for Iona in Christchurch after she married Grant and gave birth to their son Michael. Iona was totally dedicated to her profession well beyond the call of duty and she was held in high regard and loved by those she cared for. I have always admired Iona for her courage and tenacity during difficult times.

Iona, I love you and I miss you. You will be forever on my mind. May you now rest in peace.

Memories of Duncan Laing

Duncan Laing passed away on 31 January 2009. The following memories of Duncan Laing was written for a Testimonial Dinner book of tributes in 2006.

Duncan Laing became the new coach at Moana Pool shortly before the 1966 Nationals. I was 16 years old at the time in my first year as a senior swimmer. The previous coach, a popular coach with his squad, had left Moana Pool at the worst of times a number of weeks before the Nationals. Bill Hammond, a pool attendant at the time, and a number of Otago Centre amateur coaches had filled the breech until Duncan arrived in Dunedin. Duncan accompanied the Otago team to the nationals, but he did not press himself on us. That was not his manner or style. Instead, he was quietly there for us in the background to lend support when needed. Ever since his arrival in Dunedin Dunc has been a steadfast rock of support to hundreds of squad members regardless of the levels of success they may have achieved under his charge.

One of my fondest memories of Dunc is of him arriving for the early morning training sessions at Moana Pool, a big man in a small car. To this day I do not know how Dunc, Betty, and their kids managed to all fit into that baby Austin. I learnt to drive in that Austin, as I am sure a number of other squad members did too. Dunc has been like a second Father to many of us. He has been generous to a fault not only to his squad members, but also to the general public and especially those less fortunate. Dunc’s swimming lessons at night were notorious for running late because time was immaterial to Dunc. He had a task to do, and that was to teach the kids to swim. But no parent or child minded because they knew that Dunc was dedicated to his vocation and the kids were the ones who benefited.

Dunc has been my coach then mentor, boss, and friend for over four decades and my life has been enriched by knowing him. I am so pleased for Dunc and Betty that the swimming fraternity and Dunedin citizens are honouring his dedication, selflessness, and success with a Testimonial Dinner. I look forward to being there to wish Dunc and Betty a happy and long retirement.