HUMPHREY O’LEARY

Wairarapa Daily Times, 8 August 1934, Page 4

HUMPHREY O’LEARY

AN APPRECIATION. (By A. H. Vile.) May I be permitted, as one who was very intimately associated with the late Mr Humphrey O’Leary almost front the day he arrived in Masterton, to add my humble tribute to the sterling worth of that typical product of the Emerald, Isle, both as a citizen and a It was only a short while after he came to Masterton that Mr O’Leady identified himself with public life. He was one of those who assisted, early in the ’nineties, in securing for Masterton the

first district high school to be established in New Zealand. He played an important part in securing for Masterton its water and drainage system, and tvas the life and soul of the party thatjoined with Mayor Pownall, the sponsor of the scheme, in celebrating at the lieadworks at the Upper Plain the completion of that system. He also assisted very materially in bringing about rating upon unimproved A r alues in the borough. Always a radical in his vietvs, he Avas an ardent admirer late Mr A. W. Hogg, and was oimfof the most enthusiastic supporters that gentleman throughout his long period of service to the State. Beneath the rugged exterior of Humphrey O’Leary there Avas a heart so large that its pulsations were felt in every nook and corner of the community. Affable in nature, generous to a degree, and possessed Avithal of a keen sense of humour, he had a remarkable facility for adapting himself philosophically to any circumstance that might arise. Since Masterton Avas constituted a borough in 1877, it may have seen men of greater intellectuality, but it has seen none Avitli a greater enthusiasm for the Avelfare of the toAvn in Avliieh he and Avho has rendered a more contm\wd and unselfish service for his fellowmen.Humphrey has gone to his reward, full of years, Avith an unsullied record, and leaving behind him treasured memories of self-sacrificing effort and unbroken friendships. May his ashes rest in peace.