Obituary Mr Harold Holt

Press, 3 June 1987, Page 52

Obituary Mr Harold Holt

PA Napier One of Napier’s greatest benefactors, Mr Harold Holt, has died suddenly. He was 86. Mr Holt died working in the 15ha forest he established near Tutira. The eldest son of a Napier businessman, Mr Robert Holt, he gave generously to Napier developments and to the arts and tourism attractions. The Holt Planetarium, with its Zeiss projector, was a gift to Napier from Mr Holt and his wife, Dorothy. Mr Holt helped shape Napier’s tourist industry. He was an executive member of the Thirty Thousand Club, which helped rebuild Napier after the 1931 earthquake, and was responsible for much of the Marine Parade development.

He made substantial gifts to Marineland, the aquarium, and other tourist attractions. He headed one of Hawke’s Bay’s most prominent commercial firms, Robert Holt and Sons, Ltd, and was also deputy chairman of Carter Holt Holdings, Ltd, until he retired in 1975.

Mr Holt was granted the freedom of the city in August, 1977, in recognition of his services to Napier and its people. The Mayor of Napier, Mr David Prebensen, acknowledged the contribution Mr Holt had made to the city. The Hawke’s Bay Art Gallery and Museum Board’s president, Miss Rosemary James, paid tribute to him, and 70

people at the institution’s annual meeting remembered Mr Holt with a moment’s silence.

A former ’ Mayor of Napier and a close friend of Mr Holts, Sir Peter Tait, described him as a quiet, sincere man with a genuine love for the city. A gallery in the Hawke’s Bay Art Gallery and Museum and a city street bear his name. Mr Holt was bom in Napier and educated at Napier Boys’ High School. He later became a member of the Napier High School board. He worked in the Lands and Survey Department in Wellington in 1920 and graduated bachelor of science from Victoria University in 1924. He worked in the United States timber industry for a time before joining his father’s company, Robert Holt and Sons, Ltd, in 1928. He rose to be manager and chairman of directors.

His services to Napier and forestry were recognised when he was awarded the 0.8. E. in 1963. In 1974 he established the Harold Holt Charitable Trust to help the education and development of Napier’s youth. Mr Holt died working in Holt Forest, near Dorothy’s Acre, an area he and his wife planted in primroses and shrubs. The forest of native and exotic trees, established by him at Waikoau in 1933, has been le(t to New Zealand. Mr Holt spept manMaftemoons. planting at IB forest. /