OBITUARY Mr G. R. Thorn
(N.Z. Press Association) DUNEDIN, Oct. 12. The guiding force behind the promotion of Paraplegic Games in New Zealand, Mr George Robert Thom, of Dunedin, died in Invercargill on Monday. He was 64.
A rowing enthusiast and former South Island competitor, Mr Thom was appointed to the Otago Rowing Association in 1934 and later became president of the national body. Appointed New Zealand’s first international umpire at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, he later was assistant manager of the New Zealand Olympic team in Rome. In recent years he interested himself in the welfare of paraplegics and the physically disabled. For the last four years he had been president of the Otago-Southland branch of the Federation of Paraplegics and Physically Disabled Associations. Last year he led the New Zealand team to the nineteenth international Paraplegic Games at Stoke Mandeville. England, and largely through his efforts Dunedin secured the allocation of the 1974 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games.
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Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32736, 13 October 1971, Page 19
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159OBITUARY Mr G. R. Thorn Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32736, 13 October 1971, Page 19
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