Obituary MR W. E. OLDS, CITY COUNCIL CHAIRMAN

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31785, 16 September 1968, Page 14

Obituary MR W. E. OLDS, CITY COUNCIL CHAIRMAN

Mr William Ernest Olds, who died in Christchurch on Saturday at the age of 74, was a member of the Christchurch City Council and chairman of its electricity committee. Mr Olds was born in Oamaru but came to Christchurch as a boy and was educated at the East Christchurch School and the Christchurch Technical College. He began work as an office boy with the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company, Ltd, In 1913, and stayed with the company for the whole of his working life. When he retired 11 years ago he had been manager of the Christchurch branch for 28 years.

Mr Olds’s association with insurance led to fire board membership and when he re-

tired from the Christchurch Metropolitan Fire Board last year he had completed 33 years in administering fire brigades. Before joining the Christchurch board he had been a member of the Kaiapoi Fire Board and had served on the Rangiora fire committee and West Coast fire boards. He represented the Canterbury Fire and Accident Underwriters’ Association, of which he was a president, for most of his fire board service, but later was a City Council representative.

When he was nearing retirement from insurance work Mr Olds looked for community service and was recruited by the Christchurch Citizens’ and Ratepayers' Association as a candidate for the City Council. He gained a seat at the elections in 1956 and retained it at later elections. He has been chairman of the electricity committee for nearly six years. As a city councillor he was a member of the Christchurch Metropolitan Milk Board for several years and its chairman for two terms. In 1935 Mr Olds was made a justice of the peace. He took an active role and frequently sat on the bench of the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court, was a member of the execu-

tive council of the Canterbury Justices of the Peace Association for about 20 years, its president for a term, South Island representative on the executive of the Federation of New Zealand Justices’ Association and in 1956 president of the national body. Mr Olds was also interested in the administration of education. He served on several school committees and the Canterbury School Committees’ Association, of which he was a president and later elected a life member. He was also a member of the Avonside Girls’ High School Board.

Mr Olds had no political aspirations, but he cheerfully showed the flag for the National Party in the safe Labour seat of Avon at one General Election. The cheerfulness he showed then marked his whole local body career, and political opponents who questioned his decisions and his policy could never carry an argument beyond a meeting room because Mr Olds then ceased to be interested in anything other than good fellowship and telling or hearing the latest story. In recent years his health was poor and it was on his doctor's advice that he retired from the Fire Board; but he was determined to keep up his City Council service until this year's election. Mr Olds is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.