My dad died in the early hours of Friday morning. He was in Hastings Hospital being treated for injuries from a fall and covid.
I think it would be fair to say he died with Covid rather than from it. He was 90 years old and has health has been failing for several years.
There would be very few beekeepers in the older generations that did not know my father Ian. He was involved in beekeeping all his life and on many levels including being on trusts and as the chairman of the National beekeepers Association.At the local level dad had friends in all levels of beekeeping and had many many friends amongst the hobbyist beekeepers.
Dad was from the generation of beekeepers that did everything for themselves from making their own frames right up to marketing the honey. I doubt there was anything to do with beekeeping that dad couldn't do at least until computers came along.
Of course he wasn't just a beekeeper but also a husband, a father, a tramper, a fisherman, a vegetable gardener, a cricket fan and he played a mean game of table tennis.
Dad wanted to work till he was 90 but he only managed to get to 87 before he had to stop working full-time.
I will miss him but at least I won't have tell him that I'm retiring at the end of this season at the young age of 65. Dad would have accepted it the same way he accepted my long hair and beard. He didn't judge or impose his beliefs upon others but he wouldn't have been entirely happy either.
Dad's funeral will be on Wednesday, 23 March at 11 a.m. at the Crestwood funeral home Hastings. Unfortunately because of Covid restrictions limiting numbers to 100 not everybody who wants to will be able to attend.
I think it would be fair to say he died with Covid rather than from it. He was 90 years old and has health has been failing for several years.
There would be very few beekeepers in the older generations that did not know my father Ian. He was involved in beekeeping all his life and on many levels including being on trusts and as the chairman of the National beekeepers Association.At the local level dad had friends in all levels of beekeeping and had many many friends amongst the hobbyist beekeepers.
Dad was from the generation of beekeepers that did everything for themselves from making their own frames right up to marketing the honey. I doubt there was anything to do with beekeeping that dad couldn't do at least until computers came along.
Of course he wasn't just a beekeeper but also a husband, a father, a tramper, a fisherman, a vegetable gardener, a cricket fan and he played a mean game of table tennis.
Dad wanted to work till he was 90 but he only managed to get to 87 before he had to stop working full-time.
I will miss him but at least I won't have tell him that I'm retiring at the end of this season at the young age of 65. Dad would have accepted it the same way he accepted my long hair and beard. He didn't judge or impose his beliefs upon others but he wouldn't have been entirely happy either.
Dad's funeral will be on Wednesday, 23 March at 11 a.m. at the Crestwood funeral home Hastings. Unfortunately because of Covid restrictions limiting numbers to 100 not everybody who wants to will be able to attend.
