Leading from the front issuu

A PERSISTENT, UNWAVERING
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
by alwyn corban
You are a good man, Pat, a very good man with a good
compass and enviable vitality.
What’s more, you are living proof that Napier is a City
not too big to learn about itself.
Whether by design or coincidence you have embraced
this notion put forward by your friend Dr John Robson in
the 1980s. However, I suspect you made it your business
to know about Napier and know the people of your community
long before.
You knock on doors. You are a tireless networker and
relationship builder, and you do this across many divides.
I am sure you could knock on any door in Napier and be
a welcomed guest. You are an example to us all, working
one on one, listening to people and making small gestures
of kindness.
I met you 45 years ago, when I was a youth about to
marry Mary-Anne, and it has been my good fortune that
our relationship has seamlessly journeyed through the
years as a son in law, family friend and ultimately dear
friend. It has always been authentic, marked by respect
and transparency. I do enjoy our “wee chats over a glass
of wine” and you do have a way of “getting the sunlight in!”
You were younger than your generation, not in age but
in attitude. The 1970’s kaupapa of the Values Party sat
comfortably with your environmental and social activist
leanings. I heard stories of your term as President of the
Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union during the Ranfurly Shield era
and was a customer, or was it beneficiary, during the last
years of your carpet business.
You were an active member of the Forest and Bird Society
and President of YMCA New Zealand. The Downtown
Y and Michael’s Place (The Pub With No Beer) were
a focus as they successfully trialled alternative venues for
Napier youth to socialise safely. As a founding trustee of
the Hawke’s Bay Community College, you were a proud
and strong advocate of the non-vocational education it
provided, and in the 1980s, as a founding trustee, you embraced
the mandate of the Napier Pilot City Trust to pilot
innovative social justice projects.
Your tenacity has kept that flame alive and today it is
greatly rewarding to be a fellow Trustee with you and to
see its rekindling over the last few years.
I always enjoyed Magill family times. They were fun and
eagerly anticipated. “Family night” at 3 Whakarire Ave was
Above, Alwyn and Pat nearly 45 years ago; more recently, great mates on the same page at a wine and cheese board meeting,
Alwyn is now Pilot City Trust treasurer.
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Napier Pilot City Trust – for a kinder, fairer city