NAVAL FUNERAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 841, 9 December 1929, Page 16

NAVAL FUNERAL

TRIBUTE TO THE LATE MR. G. S. READE GAVE £1,000,000 TO NAVY The late Mr. Gifford Sherman Reade, who presented his entire estate to the Admiralty for the purpose of a naval training school, which he endowed to the extent of more than £1,000,000, was accorded a naval funeral, when he was buried at Hillsborough Cemetery on Saturday afternoon. An ardent supporter of the navy throughout his life, Mr. Reade had devoted a large portion of his fortune to it, finally reserving for himself only a small income sufficient to keep him in retirement at his home in Mount Eden. As a tribute to his generosity a naval detachment was present at the funeral, consisting of Commander Robertson, of H.M.S. Veronica, Commander Jeffreys and Lieutenant R. S. Jessall, of H.M.S. Dunedin, and 24 men from the combined vessels of the New Zealand station. Regret at their inability to attend was expressed by Commodore Blake and by Commander Tobin, of H.M.S. Philomel, who were detained by the naval manoeuvres conducted by the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. Three wreaths were sent from official naval sources, one from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, one from the commanders, officers and men of the ships of the New Zealand Station, and one from the superintendent, officers and boys of the Royal Naval School at Greenwich. Mr. Reade’s wife died last July, and he had no relatives in New Zealand, and a small circle of friends. There were present at his funeral, however, representatives of two families of his very intimate friends, Mrs. G. Haydock, Mr. R. Haydock and Mr. B. Haydock, and Mr. and Mrs. D. Gillies. The Rev. F. P. Willis, vicar of St. Andrew’s Church, Epsom, officiated, with the assistance of the naval chaplain, the Rev. G. T. Robson. Eight men from the New Zealand Station acted as pallbearers.