LICENSEE’S DEATH

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22571, 26 February 1948, Page 4

LICENSEE’S DEATH

MR. ROY M c DOWELL LONG ILLNESS ENDS SERVICE IN TWO WAFS After an illness which had c nin d him to his bed since June last year Mr. R yden Vivian McDowell, licensee of Te Puia Springs Hotel, passed away yesterday at the age of 53 years. He had held the license since October, 1946, and during the few months of good health which he enjoyed after taking over the hotel he had established himself as one of the most popular and efficient hotelks-pers in the whole of the East Coast. A man of highly prepossessing personality with a first-class sporting background and a wide experience in business, the late Mr. McDowell was well known in the district while with the Shell Oil Company, first as a representative and later as an executive. He was born in Palmerston North and spent his youth there, later taking up employment in Wellington, where he identified himself with the Territorial movement and held a commission at the outbreak of war in 1914. He surrendered his commission in order to go overseas with the Wellington Infantry Regiment, in the Main Body of the first N.Z.E.F., and served in Egypt and on the Gallipoli Peninsula, being wounded there and then evacuated to New Zealand. He recovered his health and again went abroad, serving during the latter part of the war in France. He achieved the rank of captain during that period. Finalist for N.Z.E.F. Team

His Rugby football ability was marked, and following the cessation of hostilities in Europe he won considerable prominence in Divisional matches, being a trialist for the N.Z.E.F. team which had a triumphant series of international matches and toured in South Africa en route home to New Zealand. In later years be took up golf and became highly proficient on the links. Between tne wars he made a considerable success in business as a member of the Shell Oil Company’s organisation, and during the recent war he again served in the armed forces, this time in New Zealand. After being discharged from the R.N.Z.A.F. he returned to his old business associations for only a short time before taking up the Te Puia license. " The late Mr. McDowell was married in 1930 to Miss Helen Soubister, who survives with one son and one daughter. Deep sympathy for the widow and children has been extended by residents of the district in their bereavement. MRS. MAUD GARTSHORE t A well-known resident of the Gisborne district for the past 29 years, and until 1946 in business in the Te Hapara district, Mrs. Maud.C. Gartshore, who' died in the Cook Hospital yesterday, will be sadly missed by her many friends. Following her marriage to the lata Mr. A. J. Gartshore in Dunedin in 1919, Mrs. Gartshore came to Gisborne, where she assisted her husband with his wellknown grocery business in Te Hapara. Mr. Gartshore died in 1925, but his wife continued the business on her own behalf, retiring two years ago. With tier kindly disposition she endeared herself to many.