Obituary: Ralph Frederick Hope
Ralph Hope, 1917-2010
Ralph Hope lived all but a few of his 92 years at Waitui at Upper Takaka, and many remember him as a keen, hardworking farmer and always the gentleman ready to do anything for his community.
Born in Wellington, he spent his first three years on D’Urville Island before his parents Frederick and Leticia (nee Mansfield) moved to the Waitui property previously owned by the Beardmore family. There, with children Denis, Margaret, Floss, Ralph and John, they took up residence in the distinctive high-gabled home guarded by two linden trees at the entrance. It was Ralph’s home for the next eight decades.
His childhood was fairly rough and tumble. Ralph recalled the day his sister Floss rolled down a long gravel slide and he raced home with his brothers to tell his mother, “Bubby’s dead!” Luckily she’d just knocked herself out. Just like his siblings, Ralph attended Upper Takaka School, biking there on the gravel alongside his younger brother John, keeping strict riding positions on either side of the road, one always east, the other west. One night, while biking home late, and not expecting to encounter anyone on the lonely country road, the two got the fright of their lives when Mrs Hailes (Ralph’s future mother-in-law) shot through the middle of them biking at high speed the other way.
Ralph passed his “matric” exam at 14, and left school to take up work on the farm in the era of land-clearing and rigorous manual work. Their proximity to the Cobb meant he and his father got the contract for clearing the site for the proposed powerhouse, along with a section of the road leading to it.
During the Second World War, Ralph’s brother John was deemed to be an essential farm worker, but Ralph was only at army camp for one week before he was recalled because John had snuck off and joined the air force. Ralph became a member of the home guard—his patch stretching from the head of the Takaka Valley down to Lindsay’s Bridge—and was involved in many training exercises, including live mortar-firing, all adding to his busy days. It is said that an officer visiting one day raised his eyebrows when he heard local cockies using the home guard radio to advise that some cows had gotten into a nearby chowmollier patch.
Nora Hailes was the girl next door. She’d been a herd tester, travelling by horse and cart on a beat that took her from Bainham to Bluff. Having done all that “scouting”, she married on 31 May 1947, “that very decent bloke” Ralph Hope, who converted to Catholicism in the process. In those days he didn’t have much choice if he wanted his Catholic bride, but his adopted faith would become a huge part of his life, evident in both time and materials given during his lifetime. He and Trevor Wells donated all the timber for the floor in the Catholic church hall in Takaka. In the late 70s, he donated the matai for the refurbishment of the church pews undertaken by Chip Williams of Pupu Valley.
Ralph and Nora’s land grew to 3,000 acres as it amalgamated both his family farm and Nora’s (her family settled in Upper Takaka back in 1864; Hailes Knob is named after them). It is said Ralph and Nora’s Romney sheep produced the second-highest-yielding wool clip that passed through Dalgety’s Stock and Station firm. The downside of their operation was their lambing percentage, which one year dropped to 67 per cent, largely due to the harsh, cold weather experienced at the head of the Waitui Valley. Ralph once counted 20 days without a bit of sunshine, including 14 days of non-stop rain.
Ralph and Nora raised two girls and four boys (Paul, Anthony, Christopher, Maria, Mark, and Sarah). Nicholas and Damian died in infancy. Ralph loved his family and worked particularly hard to support them through their growing years. His knowledge of flora and fauna was always close at hand, and his children (and later 16 grandchildren) learned many skills from time spent with him—everything from driving tractors, sharpening knives, tying knots, cutting wood, shooting deer and pigs, playing cards, cracking a stock whip, skimming stones, even the fine skill of trout shooting!
Much changed during Ralph’s lifetime, like the neatly stacked sheds of winter hay that replaced the big stacks he used to gather with horse and cart. His trusty Fordson Major tractor gave way to the all-weather luxury of his Land Rover, which he purchased due to safety concerns about driving 2WD tractors around the hill country in wet and greasy winters.
Ralph involved himself wholeheartedly in the community whenever he saw a need for his services; not only with Federated Farmers and local and diocesan church affairs. He served nine years on the Golden Bay Power Board, 26 as a member and later district organiser for Search and Rescue in Golden Bay, and 30 years as a member of the Upper Takaka hall committee. Around the mid 1980s, Ralph took a leading role in the formation of the Golden Bay Museum (then the Takaka Museum) and became its president in 1990. A Community Award commended his optimism and determination in helping to raise $80,000 needed to buy the museum’s permanent collection after being told it would be impossible to get from such a small population.
In his latter years, failing hearing prevented Ralph from keeping up with news and community affairs, though others kept him informed. Fourteen years ago he left the farm, spending seven years in Takaka, then another seven at Ashgrove House retirement home and Cashmere View Hospital in Christchurch, near four of his children and their families. Leaving the farm was a disappointment to him, but he retained the sense of humour that kept the family entertained whenever they visited. Once after being informed all about the latest in politics, he put his hand up to his ear and replied “What, carrots?”
Ralph died on 21 April and was farewelled in Christchurch before being brought back to Takaka, where his family gathered around him for a final night at Rangihaeata, the sound of the sea a fitting backdrop and reminder of his early years on D’Urville. After a Requiem Mass for him at the Sacred Heart Church in Takaka on 23 April, he was finally laid to rest at the West Takaka Catholic Cemetery next to Nora, who passed away 32 years before him.
They are survived by their six children, 16 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Two of Ralph’s children still live in the Bay: Anthony at Rangihaeata and Mark at Three Oaks.
Gerard Hindmarsh
