A TRIBUTE

Northern Advocate, 18 January 1935, Page 6

A TRIBUTE

TO LATE MR J. E. HOLMES. “A REMARKABLE MAN.” HIGH INTEGRITY AND HONOUR. The Whangarei Harbour Board today paid a tribute to the late Mr J. E. Holmes, deputy-chairman, and one of the two borough representatives on the board. Mr Holmes sat on the board from December, 1912, to April 1917,’ and from April, 1926, to' December, 1934. The chairman, Mr. J. A. Finlayson, said it would .be quite useless to . explain all the good qualities of Mr Holmes, because no one could be, associated with him without realising that he was a man of high integrity and honour. He had the welfare of the district at heart, and with his passing Whangarei had 'suffered ,a distinct loss, . , Mr L. A. Johnson said he had come on the board with Mr Holmes. He would always have a wonderful memory of Mr Holmes, v not only on account of his genial personality, hut also of his wonderful knowledge .in regard to the harbour and the district. It was a revelation to sit on the board with Mr Holmes.

“If we had not had men like Mr Holmes to take a firm stand in the face of opposition,” said Mr Johnson, “the harbour would never have advanced as it has done.”

The board’s new member, Mr R. R. Allan, said Mr Holmes had been ah outstanding personality in public body work in Whangarei. . If he (Mr Allan) could follow Mr Holmes’ example, hej felt he would be doing good and proper work. Having sat with Mr Holmes on the Harbour Board and the Borough Council, Mr P. Gardner said deceased was a man with a keen sense of the needs of the district and of past works done by local bodies in the district. He was a man with a wonderful memory. ' . “Mr Holmes was a man we all learned to respect highly,” said Mr H. E. Hewlett. “He was a man of keen intellect, and I feel he would have achieved distinction in a wider sphere of life.” “If ever a history of the North comes to be written, there could be no finer chapter than that of the work of Mr Holmes,” said Mr E. L. Whimp. Mr Holmes was a man whose life work had been well and nobly done. Mr Whimp had been associated with Mr Holmes in local body life for a period of 14 years. During eight of those years, on the Onerahi Town Board, Mr Whimp had had good opportunity to study Mr Holmes and had found him a remarkable man for his grasp of local body work and procedure. Mr Whimp mentioned that at the time Onerahi was contemplating a water supply the Town Board members had clambered many times over the hilf at the back of Tamaterau, and then, despite his 70 years, Mr Holmes had led the way. It seemed to Mr Whimp that Mr Holmes was more at home in the bush than anywhere.

Mr Rickard also paid a tribute tc the memory of Mr Holmes, and on the motion of the chairman a vote of sympathy with the widow and family of the late member was carried.