Meet the team

Edna Brown was the Acorn Foundation's first donor in 2003 and seeded the first personal endowment fund in the New Zealand Community Foundations network. 

Fast forward to 2021 and Edna’s endowment fund has now given out more than the original gift and the capital in the fund has not only stayed intact, but it has also grown by 46%. Edna chose to support medical research or treatment causes in the Western Bay of Plenty and, to-date, her fund has given $67,922 to 14 different charities - some multiple times.

Edna grew up in Rotorua, where she worked in her family’s soft drink factory after school. She was the youngest in a family of ten children, five boys and five girls. As a young woman she loved ballroom dancing, at which she excelled.

She married George Brown and they lived in Wellington, where Edna worked in the hotel industry, including managing the Tin Hut Hotel, near Wellington.

They had no children, but Edna loved animals, especially cats, and when they later started farming near Te Puke she had names for all the farm animals. 

Edna was a very determined lady, and she was always very kind to people who were in need. After her husband died she lived at Omokoroa, then later at Matapihi, and finally in Tauranga. She was very close to a niece who was only 4 years younger, so more like a sister, who also lived in Tauranga.

Eva Trowbridge was born in Sunderland, England and emigrated to New Zealand with her husband, Norman, in 1962.

Eva did domestic cleaning at the Tauranga Hospital for 25 years and lived in Devonport Road during this period, and then they moved to Matua.

Norman was a painter for the Railways for many years and died in 1999 (aged 81 years).

Eva was a quiet lady who loved everything about England.  She was a staunch Royalist and loved “red, white and blue”.  Norman and Eva were strong supporters of the RSA.

Eva was extremely close to her sister, Nan, who emigrated here in 1991. Nan died in 2004, and Eva missed her sister greatly.

Annual distributions from Eva’s fund are made to the Salvation Army Tauranga and also provide an annual scholarship for an adult student studying at the University of Waikato, Tauranga campus. The remainder of the fund is available for any charitable purpose.

Bob was born in Napier, being the second of five children.  He grew up on a farm in Otorohanga. 

As a young man he went to Australia and worked on wheat farms there, before coming back to Otorohanga.

Bob had the first herring bone cow shed in the district and the first wintering barn. 

Bob loved playing rugby at school and later became interested in cycling. He had a number of trips away with cycling friends. He enjoyed water skiing at Lake Karapiro and golf at the Waitomo golf club.

After Bob's parents died in 1981, he moved to Waihi and then semi-retired to his farm at Papamoa in 1985. He continued playing golf at the Te Puke club and was always a keen sea fisherman.

Distributions from Bob's fund are available for general charitable purposes.

Louise was born in Edinburgh shortly after the end of WW1. She was educated in Edinburgh and graduated as a nurse in 1943 and took two further nursing degrees.

Douglas was born in Carlisle, England and educated in Edinburgh. He qualified in medicine in 1945.

They were married in 1946. After service in the RAF, they emigrated to New Zealand and Douglas served in the Royal NZ Air Force for five years.

After a little globetrotting they settled in Otaki in 1955. Unfortunately, the medical partnership was not happy, and in January 1961 they moved to Te Puke where Douglas practiced full time for 28 years and part time for a further 5 years.

Louise became involved in the community as she was on the Fairhaven School Board for 6 years, the Board of Governors for the High School for 9 years, and a Borough Councillor for 9 years. She became a Justice of the Peace and a Marriage Celebrant. At the time of setting up their fund, they had been married for 66 years and were still talking to each other!

Douglas died in July 2013 at age 89, and Louise died in October 2014 at 95.

Distributions from their fund are made each year to Waipuna Hospice, The Salvation Army, Save the Children NZ, with a portion left unrestricted for the community.

Joan was born in Liverpool in September 1921 and was an only child. She became a doctor, and prior to emigrating to New Zealand in 1970, she was a member of the British Medical Association, Royal College of Nursing and the Family Planning Association.  After making her home in New Zealand, Joan worked as a forensic consultant at Christchurch’s Sunnyside Hospital and also Christchurch Women’s Prison.  She had a special interest in psychodrama, and she was a board member of the Australian and NZ Psychodrama Association, a life member of the NZ Association of Psychotherapists, and she ran professional development groups for community and mental health workers.

After moving to Tauranga in 1992, Joan continued to supervise and mentor trainees in psychotherapy.

Joan survived two wonderful husbands and enjoyed playing the piano and playing tennis. She was interested in the arts and in native bush. Joan believed it was vital to never stop learning, and in her 70s, she embraced tennis, ballroom dancing, ice-skating and horse riding.

In 2006, Joan was awarded the Queen’s Service order for her contribution to psychiatry and for her decades of voluntary community service.

Bob Granger had his primary school education in Te Puke.  He then went as a boarder for five years to New Plymouth Boys High School and left with nine units of a university degree.

Afterwards he attended Auckland University, did a 6 month stint in the Army, followed by 3 years in the Air Force where he became an instructor and Flying Officer.

In 1946 he joined an accounting firm in Tauranga as the junior of the two partners.  Sir EA Craig joined him in 1947, and this firm eventually became Granger, Craig, Tunnicliffe and Co of which he was the Senior Partner.

In 1962, he was asked to form a Committee in Tauranga for the fledgling Outward Bound School at Anakiwa.  Over the years he attended many meetings, enrolled many students and did a “course” himself.

In 1997, he became the National President of the Outward Bound Trust.  Later, about 1990 he was appointed to the Outward Bound International Board until his death in 2000.

He had a passion for Outward Bound and happily devoted a lot of time and energy on Trust matters.

Bob’s photograph is in the big dining hall at Anakiwa, and eight paving stones in the quadrangle memorial path have been dedicated to his memory by his family and other people.

Beverley was born in Auckland but with her father working for New Zealand Police, she spent time in many parts of New Zealand.

As an avid sportswoman, she represented three provinces at tennis and two at badminton.  Beverley was interested in all sports and had so much knowledge about them, you would think she had played them all herself! 

She worked in seven government departments during her working career, where she met her husband Ross, whom she married in 1955. 

Throughout her life, Beverley always went out of her way to help others, providing many a youngster with financial help to attain their diplomas or degrees.  She was a person to whom many people turned for common-sense advice and friendship.

Louise was born in Edinburgh shortly after the end of WW1. She was educated in Edinburgh and graduated as a nurse in 1943 and took two further nursing degrees.

Douglas was born in Carlisle, England and educated in Edinburgh. He qualified in medicine in 1945.

They were married in 1946. After service in the RAF, they emigrated to New Zealand and Douglas served in the Royal NZ Air Force for five years.

After a little globetrotting they settled in Otaki in 1955. Unfortunately, the medical partnership was not happy, and in January 1961 they moved to Te Puke where Douglas practiced full time for 28 years and part time for a further 5 years.

Louise became involved in the community as she was on the Fairhaven School Board for 6 years, the Board of Governors for the High School for 9 years, and a Borough Councillor for 9 years. She became a Justice of the Peace and a Marriage Celebrant. At the time of setting up their fund, they had been married for 66 years and were still talking to each other!

Douglas died in July 2013 at age 89, and Louise died in October 2014 at 95.

Distributions from their fund are made each year to Waipuna Hospice, The Salvation Army, Save the Children NZ, with a portion left unrestricted for the community.

Mervyn grew up on a farm between Cambridge and Hamilton.  His father died when Mervyn was only 17 so he managed these farms from an early age.  He was the first person to grow maize in the Waikato and was always looking for ways to improve productivity and imported specialised harvesting equipment.  He fattened stock during the winter and would buy 3 - 4 year old beef cattle from Gisborne, and it would take 3 months for the drovers to move the stock back to Mervyn’s farm in Cambridge.

He was 42 when he met Theresa, and they were married for 38 years.  Theresa was working as an interior decorator for a paint shop in Hamilton when she met Mervyn.  They moved to Te Puna in 1989 where they had a dehydrating plant for grass, lucerne, hops and barley.  Theresa opened a gift shop “There’s Art Cottage” as she was very good with floral arrangements and won a lot of competitions.

They moved to Oropi in 2002, and Theresa died in 2009.

Mervyn died in 2015.

Jeffrey was born in Tauranga, completed his schooling in Auckland, and then studied medicine at Otago University. After working in Auckland hospitals for 3 years, Jeffrey travelled and worked in Papua New Guinea and for various hospitals in the United Kingdom. After returning to New Zealand in 1977, he established a general practice in Katikati from his home. This practice grew to become the Katikati Medical Centre, with new purpose built premises in 1982, and over 9 doctors. Early onset Parkinson’s forced Jeffrey to retire at age 62.

Jeffrey was instrumental in setting up the Katikati Squash Club, Aongatete Lodge, Katikati St John Resource Centre, and the Uretara Estuary Managers.

Jeffrey enjoyed snow skiing, travelling, and he had a love of old Jaguar cars.

Paul had an international upbringing, with his father a Kiwi and his mother from Iowa in the USA. He was born in Canada, came to New Zealand before he was two, and left after three years, living in Iraq, Egypt, Cyprus, and then in France.

He returned to New Zealand in 1977 and studied mathematics and physics at the University of Auckland, gaining a B.Sc. with honours in mathematics. He showed exceptional promise and was awarded one of the very few New Zealand Government scholarships available for study for a Ph.D., anywhere in the world.

He was admitted to Harvard University in the USA, and in 1982, began his Ph.D. studies. Unfortunately, after a year there, he developed mental health problems that were later diagnosed as schizophrenia, and he returned to New Zealand. Harvard awarded him an MA degree for the work that he had completed.

Paul was briefly employed in various roles, but his illness meant that he could not cope with regular employment.

Paul was put under the care of mental health services and lived with others in supervised houses for the rest of his life. He was always gentle and polite, and he was well liked by all who met him.
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Distributions from the Paul Goodyear Fund will assist children to extend themselves in education, particularly in mathematics and science.

Bob and Eileen Haine married in September 1943 and lived in the Bay of Plenty.  They had five children—two boys and three girls—who went on to give them twelve grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

Both Bob and Eileen worked very hard throughout their lives.  While Bob was away deep sea fishing, Eileen took care of the family, milked the cows, helped to develop and run the orchard, sewed clothes for the children and made do at times when there was little money.

After serving in the war, Bob came back with poor health but soon found his feet.  He farmed, worked on the rabbit board, fished, made bricks, grew delicious mandarins and loved doing woodwork.

Bob and Eileen eventually retired to the Mount to enjoy their family and grandchildren.

The Haine Family Fund is a memorial  to Bob and Eileen.  The fund is intended for young people to learn, love and use all aspects of the outdoors.  It is their hope that the recipients  will develop into wonderful adults, parents and people of the world.

Bob died in  2016.

Both Keith & Rona were born into farming families prior to WWII, and after completing his schooling, Keith worked at home on the farm, as was expected. Keith and a brother later had the opportunity to purchase the small dairy property near Paeroa that had been in the family since 1913, they and worked hard to develop it into a profitable unit.

Keith purchased his brother’s share in the property in 1956, and he and Rona were married in the same year. Their four children were born and schooled at Paeroa, until the farm was sold, and the family moved to a larger property at Otamarakau in 1973.

In 1990 the dairy farm was sold, and the couple purchased a kiwifruit orchard near Te Puke as an investment and interest for Keith, while he and Rona adjusted to being ‘townies’, living firstly at Papamoa, then Ohauiti and finally settling in Maungatapu. Retirement allowed time to pursue new interests, enjoy some travel, and Keith became a regular volunteer for Waipuna Hospice until he passed away in 2013.

Rona wished to give some financial help to the community and established their endowment fund in 2016. The beneficiaries from the fund are Waipuna Hospice, St John Tauranga/WBOP, and the Tauranga Rescue Helicopter service.

Born at Waipiro Bay, Gisborne, in 1908, Claudia Jarman’s (nee Pole) father was a school principal. She later attended Auckland Teacher’s College.  Claudia began her career teaching English and maths.  However, it was not long before she was teaching art and art history. She also had time to spend on her own art practice; Jacqueline Bullmore, who taught art with Claudia Jarman in 1959 at Tauranga Girls’ College, described Jarman as particularly talented at wood carving.    

Arriving in Tauranga in 1939, Claudia first taught at Tauranga District High School (Hillsdene) and from 1958 at Tauranga Girls’ College. In 1939, she married Reginald Jarman, and they had one son named Richard. Claudia was also involved in the Tauranga Repertory Society and, along with Reginald, was a foundation member of the Tauranga Chamber Music Society and the Tauranga Art Society.    

Described as ‘a little fox terrier with a huge spirit,’ Claudia Jarman was an art educator with great passion, inspiring two generations of teenagers in the Bay of Plenty to practice and appreciate art.  

With foresight and vision, Patricia Brooks, a past pupil of Claudia Jarman’s, began raising money to establish a fund to remember her art teacher’s contribution to the visual arts of Tauranga. This fund is now administered on behalf of its contributors by the Acorn Foundation, and each year, a contribution is made to the Tauranga Art Gallery from the Claudia Jarman Fund.

Peggy was born in Inverness (Scotland) in 1919.  During WWII, she joined the Royal Air Force and was stationed in various areas all over Britain. Peggy joined the NZ Army while in Britain as part of a plan to emigrate, boarding the Captain Cook in January 1952 to sail to New Zealand. Peggy met Erick at a dance in Silverstream, and the two quickly became a couple. They married in 1955, and moved to Tauranga soon after their wedding, making it their permanent home. 

The couple purchased a timber business in Te Puna, and a few years later bought their own home in Wharf Street, where they lived all their married life.

Peggy worked for Faulkner’s Ferry Service most of her working life, and after selling the timber business, Erick worked in the hotel industry. 

They were both very keen on trout fishing, mainly at Lake Tarawera, enjoyed their garden, and Peggy enjoyed indoor bowls.

Erick died in 2001, and Peggy passed away in 2015, aged 96.

The beneficiaries from their fund are the local branches of the Heart Foundation, Cancer Society and SPCA.

John was born at Riversdale in the Wairarapa in 1919. When he left school, he worked between the two family sheep stations--Waterfalls at Tiramea and Te Wharau on the east coast of the Wairarapa. He helped to improve these stations together with his brothers, until he was called up for service in WWII in 1941.

When he returned from the war, he continued his career in farming and purchased Little Tora, situated on the coast from Martinborough. This farm was 3000 acres, running sheep and cattle. He farmed Little Tora for a period of 21 years.

John married Philippa Fetch, and they moved to Feilding where they purchased a sheep and cattle farm. They retired to Tauranga in 1980 where they purchased a lifestyle block. They enjoyed playing golf together.

Philippa was educated at Woodford House at Havelock North, in Hastings. Her sporting interests included tennis and hockey, as well as golf. She also enjoyed riding horses and kept her interest in horses until she died in 1986. John passed away in 2011.

Jann Medlicott was born in Taranaki and studied Medicine at the University of Otago, specialising in radiology. After three years overseas, and obtaining higher qualifications in London, she returned to New Zealand and settled in Tauranga in 1980 as a hospital-based radiologist. She subsequently became involved in the establishment of the private radiology practices in the Bay area, latterly Medex Radiology, where she was a partner until her retirement in 2011. 

Jann has been closely involved with the Acorn Foundation since 2008, sponsoring an adult learner scholarship at the University of Waikato from 2012 to 2015 and, since 2012, she has sponsored an annual Creative Arts Award through Creative Bay of Plenty. In 2020, the value of this prize was increased to $5,000 to provide even more support to a young artist. In 2016, Jann began to anonymously sponsor the national Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. The award was renamed as the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction in 2020 and is annually adjusted for wage inflation with a current value of $57,000. 

In late 2020, along with several other deserving Tauranga residents, we were delighted to see Jann named as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. 

Roy was born in Bristol, England. He was one of the first people to join the RAF Volunteer Reserves when he worked for the Imperial Tobacco Company in 1937.  When World War II looked imminent, he was released by his employer for full-time training and took up full-time service for the Royal Air Force in 1939.  

Roy required major plastic surgery after being shot down in his single-seater Hawker Hurricane in 1940, during one of the pivotal battles of World War II: the Battle of Britain.  He was treated by a renowned New Zealand plastic surgeon, Sir Archibald McIndoe.

During his recovery, Roy was posted to New Zealand where he helped set up fighter squadrons and fighter operation rooms.  

Mary was born in Brunei, went to boarding school in Singapore and was there when the Japanese invaded during WWII.  She met Roy in 1964 when he was working for IATA (International Air Transport Association) in Singapore.

In 1982, they retired to New Zealand and were originally located in Kerikeri before settling in Tauranga in 2000.

Roy always loved sailing, fishing and aviation, while Mary enjoyed playing bridge and reading.  They were both keen walkers.

Roy died in 2012 at age 94 and Mary's journey reached its end in December 2020, aged 95.

Roy and Mary’s fund will provide for organisations which benefit youth development in the Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty areas, St John’s stations in Mt. Maunganui and Tauranga, CanTeen, the ongoing work of the Acorn Foundation and its peak body Community Foundations of New Zealand, as well as unrestricted funds. 

Christine was born on a dairy farm which her father managed to purchase as a Gallipoli veteran after WWI. It was located in an isolated area with little transport available and with roads just being constructed. From the ages of 5 to 8 years, Christine either walked alone or rode a horse for 5 kilometers to the nearest school. Later, her father managed to buy a house in a nearby town so that his growing family could attend school more easily.

Eventually, after local schools and two years in a boarding school, Christine attended Otago University to study Sciences. She then returned home to obtain a position in a small local library. There was a shortage of teachers as WWII was starting, so she moved to Auckland to train as a New Entrant teacher. After one year teaching New Entrants, she moved into Secondary work to teach Science and English. After 6 years teaching in country Secondary schools, she moved to London and taught in London schools for two years. On her return, she taught in Auckland post-primary schools but took some leave-of-absence to do more overseas travel.

Christine married at age 40 but continued teaching with four examination classes, coached netball in the lunch hours, and some Saturdays, refereed netball games as a Provincial referee.

At age 50, she decided to resign from teaching, and with her husband, Christine spent a glorious time wandering around Europe and visiting Welsh relatives. After returning to New Zealand in late January 1971, her last school asked her to return to start a Special Needs programme. Christine agreed to do this only as a part-time teacher. This work was most rewarding, and Christine continued working there until she was 71 years old.

During her teaching time, she had completed her University studies as a part-time student and returned to University, again as a part-timer, to attend Professor Marie Clay’s advanced lectures. These topics covered the teaching of reading, especially to those experiencing difficulties, and other lectures dealing with blindness, behavioural problems, intellectually handicapped and disabled children.

At 71 years, she decided to leave teaching, and, after the death of her husband, moved down to Mount Maunganui. At times, she helped as a volunteer with primary age children who needed extra help with reading. Mostly though, Christine's time in retirement was spent finding out about computers and taking piano lessons.

Ada was born in August 1920, and spent her whole life in Tauranga. She went to school at Ohauiti, Bethlehem and Greerton schools.

Ada married before the onset of World War Two. Her husband Bill went to serve overseas, and while he was away, Ada took over his cream collection business, collecting the cream from Dairy farms in the Pahoia area and delivering it to the Dairy factory down by Memorial Park.  She did this until Bill’s return.

Ada was a strong, independent woman.  She worked hard her whole life, supported herself financially and always contributed to society. She had a variety of jobs around Tauranga and in her later years she volunteered at charity shops.  Sadly there were no children but she loved her wider family, her brothers and cousins, her Mum and Aunties and Uncles. She took much pleasure in family gatherings. She cared for both her mother and her husband in their later years.

Ada’s passion for many years was as a volunteer for St John Ambulance. She was never happier than when spending her weekends as the ‘Ambulance Lady’ at local sports games and race meetings.

Ada was extremely proud of her Maori ancestry being descended from Mataatua, Takitimu and Tainui waka. She loved to tell people, as she had been told by her own mother, that she was descended from a Maori Princess.

Ada died in August 2014 aged 93.

Marlies was born in 1920 in Menden, Germany. She trained as an agriculture accountant and was employed on a large estate in East Germany. At the end of WWII, Marlies managed to escape the invading Russian troops who would have shot her because she had worked for the capitalists, and eventually returned home to Menden. She worked for the Occupational Troops as a housekeeper, and she met an English lady, who helped her get to England where she worked for a few years.

Marlies emigrated to New Zealand in 1950, where she found work as a Home Aid for various families and then as a copy typist for Smith & Brown. Marlies met her husband Jack, who was a dairy farmer in Morrinsville, and they married in 1955. They subsequently retired to Mount Maunganui, where they enjoyed the coastal lifestyle. Jack passed away in 2007, and Marlies died in 2012.

Knowing that his children would be well cared for after his death, Bob Page also wanted to leave something behind that would specifically benefit people in Tauranga.

Bob Page was originally a marine engineer, and later,  he co-founded Page and Macrae Engineering in 1953. He was a highly respected businessman who was responsible for a variety of projects in the Bay of Plenty, including the Ruahihi Power Station and the giant tanks at the Port.

Bob Page was ʻone of lifeʼs true gentlemenʼ with a heart to help young people get a good start in life. He was passionate about seeing young people succeed. Bob took on many apprentices and was keen to support the apprenticeship training scheme. Though he passed away in 2006, his wife Pat worked with the Acorn Foundation to bring his dream to life.

At the time Pat Page set up the Page/Acorn scholarships she said: “For many years my husband Bob was on the apprenticeship board. One day he came home, not his usual self but a very saddened man. I poured him a whisky and asked what was wrong. He told me that the apprenticeship scheme had come to an end, which I believe was a government move. Then Bob said “The tragedy is that in a few yearsʼ time there will be a dreadful shortage of builders, plumbers, electricians, fitters and turners, engineers and many other trades people, who have not had the luxury of an apprenticeship."

And so, in 2008 the Page/Acorn Engineering scholarships were established. These scholarships are awarded annually to apprentices and employees of local engineering firms to assist with the costs of tools and study. Find out more about these scholarships here.

Pat told us, "It gives me great pleasure to bring Bobʼs dream to life, in being able to present these scholarships to assist the successful candidates in their chosen careers." 

Pat Page died in 2016, aged 93, content in the knowledge that Bob's legacy would continue on for many years to come.

Karen was born on the edge of the North of Yorkshire Moors in 1927.  Her parents were a wonderful mix of nationalities: her father, Herlov Emil Rasmussen, was a Danish Merchant Seaman, and her mother, Amy Elizabeth Woods, was of Scottish origin.  Karen was blessed to have the best of childhoods; they didn't have much money, but there was lots of love and care. 

Karen married Philip Pensabene of Sicilian heritage, who brought her to the fullness of a happy life and gave her the joy of sharing his four daughters, followed by eight grandchildren. 

Karen eventually moved to the Ocean Shores Retirement Village in Mount Maunganui and came into contact with other Acorn donors.  She was passionate about supporting worthy charities and, having catered for family and friends in her Will, Karen was greatly relieved to learn that, through the Acorn Foundation, she could continue to give support to a kind and caring country that took herself and Philip in as citizens. 

Elvira was born and grew up in Gisborne. From a very early age she developed a deep love for ballet. Her career nearly derailed at the very start when she wanted to be a fairy in a pantomime, but was instead cast as one of the three little pigs! However she overcame this near false start and went on to become a very accomplished performer.

When her ballet teacher was unable to continue when war broke out, a 14-year-old Elvira took over the classes in Gisborne – the start of a long and richly rewarding teaching career, which continued for the next 40-plus years.  Elvira manged to juggle looking after her invalid mother, office work from Monday to Friday, and teaching after work and on Saturdays, until she finally acquired her own dance studio in Gisborne. 

She married and had three children, and moved with her young family to live in Tauranga, where her husband George, together with Bob Page, set up Page & Macrae Engineering. Elvira continued teaching dance and adjudicating competitions across the North Island for many more years. 

Elvira took great pride in instilling a love of music and dance in her pupils, and giving them a sense of discipline and an appreciation for the arts.

The Elvira Macrae Fund will support those most in need in our community. 

Beverly Perszyk was born and raised in the United States during the Great Depression. She was the only one of her eight siblings not to pursue higher education. She chose instead to start a good job at City Hall on the Monday following her last day at school.

While she said she never wanted to go to university, despite family pressure to do so, she often spoke of the transformative effects tertiary education can have.

And so, she would have been delighted to support first-in-family students entering tertiary education through the Acorn Foundation Beverly Perszyk Scholarship, which was set up in her memory by her son Ken. 

Rei was born during the Great Depression on a dairy farm sited on an island surrounded by the Otaki River. In 1951, after enjoying her nurse training in Wellington, Rei graduated with honours and won the Wellington Hospital Gold Medal. Two years later she went to South Africa, where she gained honours in Tropical Disease Medicine.

In 1954, she went to Northern Saskatchewan in Canada as sole charge at a remote nursing station in an Indian Reserve. It was midwinter when she arrived. She had to cut wood, dig trenches and act as electrician, plumber and builder. She loved it. In winter, Rei could visit the settlements in her vast territory by Indian dog sleigh whereas in summer she could travel the lakes by canoe with an outboard motor.

Following further advanced training in Britain, she held various positions in Wellington and Tauranga. 1968 saw Rei appointed Matron of Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Rotorua, a position she held until her retirement in November 1989.

After retirement from nursing, her boundless energies were harnessed in changing a run-down avocado orchard in Welcome Bay into a park like setting exporting avocados and mandarins, with a B&B. Her love of the outdoors was sated by tramping in Nepal and Peru and at Waikaremoana, canoeing down the Whanganui River, a visit to China and cycling the Otago Rail Trail.

Patricia was born in 1919, the second of six children.  She spent her childhood at Batley Farm on the Kaipara Harbour.  Patricia attended boarding school, after which she worked in a local shop, and it was here she learned the skills for her career with the Post Office.  She worked in the post office at Maungaturoto for eight years before travelling to Scotland in 1948.

Upon her return, she started working for the Post Office Savings Bank in Tauranga in 1954, becoming the first woman supervisor and retiring in 1979.  Tauranga was her home for 56 years.

Patricia enjoyed gardening and making scrap books and was a very active member of the Forest & Bird Society.

As a much loved and cherished only child, Jeanne said she lived a very sheltered life, being brought up in Morrinsville, but she was always taught to share what she had.

Jeanne was married to John Barker, who died of cancer. She later married Major Bill Round.

Jeanne was not in paid employment as a young woman, however she later developed a satisfying career working for the Tauranga Hospital Board, and subsequently for private medical practices. She joined the Tauranga Lyceum Club in 1952, and was a founding member of the Tauranga branch of the English Speakers Union. She remembered those times, and the people she met through her career, very fondly. She was always immaculately dressed and loved to wear a hat.

“I’ve been blessed by my parents; I’ve been blessed by this land. I’ve been blessed by the people I know, and by those I don’t know. I’ve had a wonderful life, and I just want to make other people’s lives a bit happier if I can.”

Annual distributions from Jean’s fund support Waipuna Hospice, and organisations assisting young people with health or educational needs.

Betty was born in Matamata in 1930 and moved to Matua where her parents had a 10-acre lemon orchard. She was number 11 of 15 children.

Betty biked to work (before the Chapel Street causeway was built) at Gilmour Rogers which was a drapery store providing, linen, haberdashery clothing and menswear.

When she was 26, she moved to Matamata where she worked as the receptionist at the Hotel. Betty returned to Tauranga after 3 years to care for her widowed mother and looked after her Mother for 34 years. 

Betty was one of our earliest donors and established the Betty Shaw Fund in 2003. Betty and her late mother who suffered from Arthritis had long been active supporters of the Arthritis Foundation, where Betty was the treasurer of the local society for a number of years. She saw Acorn as an ideal way to continue to support this very worthy organisation long after she was no longer able to be actively involved. The Arthritis Foundation is the sole beneficiary of Betty’s fund, and we at Acorn will have huge pleasure in sending the income cheque to that Foundation every year forever. This is a wonderful legacy to a worthy organisation from a wonderful lady. Betty passed away in March 2011 and left part of her estate to the Betty Shaw Fund.

She was also a keen National Party supporter and on the DARE Foundation, aiming to develop self-esteem and assertiveness.

The Shaw Family name lives on in Tauranga through their orchard which is now subdivided and respectively named Shaw Place, Benjamin Place and Edith Way after Betty’s parents.

She had a good life, enjoyed travelling overseas, meeting lots of people and making a lot of friends. She was also an award-winning ball room dancer and managed the Summit Motor Lodge in Tauranga for a couple of years while in her 70's. 

Ray Shepherd was born in Fielding in 1915, and Elva was born in Whakatane in 1919 (her father was a farmer).  Both attended Feilding High School.  Thos Borthwick and Sons featured in their lives; Ray rose to be District Manager while Elva joined the firm in the office, met Ray and they were married in 1941.  They were an extremely close couple, good at outdoor bowls; in fact, Elva won the senior championship in Fielding.

Ray and Elva moved to Tauranga in 1974.  Ray's father had been a carpenter and those skills must have rubbed off on Ray as he bought and renovated houses.

Ray died on 20 September 1996 after a lengthy illness.

Elva has established the Ray and Elva Shepherd fund within the Acorn Foundation to benefit selected charities that are dear to her heart.  The Trust is also a memorial to her much loved Ray. The beneficiaries from the fund are Waipuna Hospice, St. Columba Church, and the local branches of the Heart Foundation, St John, the Blind Foundation and CCS Disability Action.

Elva passed away in 2011.

Alexander Simpson was born in Scotland and had five brothers and sisters. His father was a plumber in Edinburgh and his mother was American. 

Alexander was a Warrant Officer in the RAF and lived in South Africa for a long time.  He immigrated to New Zealand, working as an electrician at the Arapuni hydro-electric power station. Alexander had an orchard on his property at Arapuni, and was always keen to share his produce with other people. He enjoyed doing maintenance jobs for others as well.

Alexander was widowed, and his only son died at age 54.

Ellie Thornton (a very special friend) set up the Alexander Simpson fund through the Acorn Foundation, as an appropriate way of honoring Alexander, forever.

Joan was born in Napier and grew up in Otewa on a dairy farm, attending Otorohanga High at a time when the school bus only came two miles out of town, and Joan and brother Bob had to cycle four miles, twice a day on a winding loose metal road, rain, hail or shine.  Joan worked in Napier for several years, and then in Motueka and Christchurch with sister Mary.  Parental ill health called her back to the farm where she settled in, and it often fell to her to bring up the runt of litters.  One great success was a black lamb who got left behind after a flock had been driven to market.  He became a pet called Nugget and when he needed shearing, Joan started a life-time love of spinning and knitting and experimented with natural dyes and textures.

When Joan moved to Papamoa in 1981, as well as tending a large flower and vegetable garden and dealing with the produce of the orchard, she joined the local Spinning Club  expanding her knowledge and attaining her WoolMark Certificate with a fine wool complete baby layette.  After that there were many handsome sweaters, jackets and jumpers for family and friends.

Joan Sutherland’s fund is directed toward learning for young women, and for organisations that benefit the deaf, as she herself became deaf in one ear.

Mary was born in Napier and grew up in Otorohanga, where she completed her college education by correspondence.  Mary started training as a nurse but gave this up after two years, which she said was one of the biggest mistakes of her life. 

She spent a number of years looking after other people’s children before travelling throughout New Zealand with her sister, working in the St Bedes, Dunedin, Napier and Auckland hospitals as domestic help.

Mary was the matron in Argyll House (the boarding house at Hamilton Boys High School) for 20 years until 1985.

Mary’s hobbies included golf, swimming at the beach and gardening.

Mary worked with a special-needs child for 24 years who benefited from Riding for the Disabled.  She has “seen the look on their faces when they get on these horses” and thinks it is marvelous how horses can understand the requirements of these special-needs children.

A portion of Mary’s fund supports Riding for the Disabled (Hamilton), and the remainder is available for general distribution.

Tauranga HELP was established in the early 1980’s when Police Medical Officer John Barr became increasingly frustrated at the lack of facilities available for victims of sexual abuse and rape. The idea was to have an independent place, where women could be seen by doctors and counsellors (not at the police station where the offenders often were).

Eventually enough public money was raised to set up Tauranga HELP in rooms on 14th Avenue. ACC accreditation and funding soon followed, and they were seeing hundreds of victims every year.

Fast forward more than 20 years, and Tauranga HELP had a difficult call to make. It simply wasn’t receiving enough funding to cover costs and retain counsellors. So the best possible decision was made – to close, sell the rooms and set up a charitable trust so that victims of sexual abuse could still benefit from Tauranga HELP’s financial support.

But the trustees soon realized that there would come a time when they would no longer be in a position to administer the trust. At this point they discussed with the Acorn Foundation the prospect of Acorn administering the trust funds on their behalf. This was readily agreed to, so the trust’s assets were wound up and transferred to the Acorn Foundation as the Tauranga HELP Fund. 

Now every year a distribution is made from the interest generated by this fund, to assist local organisations who work for victims of sexual abuse.

From humble beginnings in 1995, a charity luncheon was attended by 40 detectives and raised $200. In 2014 the event was supported by 1500 guests and raised an amazing $420,000 for local charities and community groups.

Over the event’s 20-year history, $2.3million was raised to benefit a wide range of WBOP organisations, becoming the biggest and most successful event of its type in New Zealand. Each year featured outstanding MC’s and guest sporting speakers from New Zealand and Australia. The event’s success relied on cash donations and quality auction items including sporting memorabilia, travel, goods and services. All the proceeds went to benefit community organisations from within the Western Bay of Plenty region.

In 2014, the trustees decided to retain $100,000 of the proceeds from the final event to establish an Acorn endowment fund, in order to continue the “giving” to the community that had grown over the previous 20 years.

Key organisers of the Tauranga Police CIB annual fundraising event were Detective Sergeant Pete Blackwell, Judge Paul Geoghegan, Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner, Sergeant Nigel McGlone, Graeme Smith and Leona Smith.

Ailsa Thorburn was born a South Auckland girl in 1942 when East Tamaki was worked and populated by dairy farming families.  Her parents’ property on Ormiston Road was purchased by Ailsa's great great grandparents in 1864 and it stayed in family ownership for 113 years. This settled history at one place, gave her and her sister and two brothers a strong knowledge of who and where they came from.

These certainties from childhood, plus an environment of family music, sport, and church activities gave Ailsa the confidence to pursue her following  adventurous life. Leadership qualities came to the fore at Otahuhu College when it was the largest secondary school in New Zealand. She became Head Prefect while excelling at a number of sports (later representing Auckland at hockey), and musical talents were more finely tuned on violin, viola, piano and her special contralto singing voice.

She easily transferred her abilities to medicine after schooling and soon became a  highly qualified registered nurse, looking to change the world. This led her to join the Methodist Church missionary nursing service in 1966, and fly to the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. This move was seriously challenging as Ailsa was sent to the Huli tribe community of 30,000 people in the Mt Hagen/Tari district. She wrote in her own words at that  time, “they had only had 18 years to come out of the stone age into the atomic age.” After 12 years nursing and caring for these people whom she greatly loved, she also commented,  “a member of this primitive tribe is studying at university, despite the fact his people  had never heard of a university before 1951.”

Following her return to a property at Katikati with her then husband John Gordon-Kirkby, she soon became a strong advocate for the Bay of Plenty lifestyle.  But her call to nursing overseas came back and in 1988 she joined Volunteer Service Abroad to go to Africa's Matabeleland in Zimbabwe. Her two-year service there was best described by one of her nephews, Peter Thorburn, who told his father on his return after having great difficulty even finding her in the depths of Central Africa , “ I could never adequately describe the conditions Aunty Ailsa was  working in at that bush hospital. They were that extreme.”  Ailsa's philosophy for working in those circumstances confirmed her wonderful attitude to life, “I just took what was there, and got on with the job.”

Josh Tingey grew up in Tauranga – the second son of Graeme and Theresa Tingey. Josh qualified as a surveyor after studying at Otago University and was engaged to marry his beloved Bex Wootton. Josh was tragically killed paragliding at Mount Maunganui in February 2018. He was a natural sportsman, as he enjoyed tennis and competitive hockey, but he really relished adventure sports that included roaring around on his 450cc Moto-X bike, water skiing and snow skiing.

The Tingey family have established a memorial fund for Josh through the Acorn Foundation, and the Josh Tingey Memorial Fund will support youth in the Western Bay of Plenty.

Colin Toop was born in Wanganui and had a successful army career, rising to the rank of major, and was awarded a MID at the end of WWII.

Upon his return from the war he married and had one son, Clive, who was tragically killed at just 23 in a hunting accident.

Colin and his wife Patricia moved to Tauranga, and in his later years, he began to consider how he could make a gift in his will to benefit his local community.

The Acorn Foundation was established in Tauranga in 2003, and Colin discovered that it would provide the ideal vehicle for him.

“The time had come for a revision of my will and of my thinking, as to how I could best leave a legacy for local causes and some personal interests. The aims and objectives of the Acorn Foundation fulfill my requirements exactly, and I can also indicate any particular cause I would like my funds to be directed towards.”

Colin elected to name his fund in honour of his wife Patricia and his son Clive. Each year now, around $50,000 is distributed on behalf of his fund, to worthy causes in the Tauranga region.

Christine was born in England (the eldest of three children) and emigrated to New Zealand when she was five years old.  Her family settled in Whangarei which is where Christine did her schooling.  She and her sister spent many happy times riding their ponies during their teenage years.

Christine started working for the National Bank in Whangarei when she was 16 and she continued working for the National Bank most of her working life, while in NZ.  She also worked at Te Puke, 11^th Avenue and Tauranga branches until she retired in 2005.

She has always loved travelling and went on her first overseas trip for almost two years in 1971/72, returning home with the travel bug.  Since then Christine has travelled to over 80 countries from the Arctic to Antarctica; her most recent trips being to the sub-Antarctic islands of New Zealand including Macquarie Island.  Christine prefers to travel to more remote places which few people visit. 

Christine is an avid tennis player, being involved at the Otumoetai Tennis Club since 1980, where she has been treasurer and club captain at different times.  She enjoys keeping fit with cycling, walking and swimming.

In 1976, at the suggestion of the NZ Medical Association (BOP branch), a group of Tauranga doctors established a fund in memory of Dr John Mark, who was a well known and respected local General Practitioner until the 1950s. This fund was set up to help financially disadvantaged medical students from the Bay of Plenty region. The NZMA administered the fund, and in 1998 the first grant of $300 was approved.

The scholarship helped several medical students over the years, but by 2007, with many of the original committee retiring, it was felt that it would be better administered by the Acorn Foundation. The Trust was wound up and the new Bay of Plenty Medical Students Scholarship fund was established with Acorn.

In 2009, the assets of the BOP Post Graduate Medical Foundation Trust were added to this fund, which is now helping to train the next generation of doctors in this region, continuing John Mark’s legacy.