Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless shares his memories of councillor Gail McIntosh at her memorial service after she died last week.
Gail McIntosh has been remembered as a big-hearted, straight-shooting "doer" who loved sports, playing bridge and a cold glass of crisp white wine - and she was a fierce advocate for women and the communities she served.
About 300 people attended yesterday's memorial service for the Tauranga city councillor and former National MP, who died on Thursday last week, aged 62.
Brother Alan McIntosh said in his eulogy his tough, strong, 6ft-tall, big-hearted older sister beat cancer twice - in 2012 and 2015 - but in November last year she discovered it was back.
Gail McIntosh, pictured in 2013. File photo
By the accounts of those friends and colleagues who spoke at the service, McIntosh spent her last months continuing to work for the causes she cared about, even as her health deteriorated.
Mayor Greg Brownless said she had been too ill to get to a few of the council's last meetings for 2017 in person, so attended - and cast her votes - via speakerphone.
Brownless said beneath her "no-nonsense exterior" was a councillor concerned for her community who would "back you unhesitatingly if you got your facts and argument right".
"A pragmatist, a doer, a kick-butt bridge player, a woman who was never afraid to share her opinion - that was our Gail," read the service sheet. PHOTO/GEORGE NOVAK
"Gail, we are going to miss you in many ways – your accounting and analytical skills were so valuable and your no-nonsense quips and observations were right to the point.
"But most of all we will miss you as a councillor and colleague determined to make a difference in this city."
Tauranga MP Simon Bridges said McIntosh was among the selectors when he became National's candidate for Tauranga in 2018.
"I remember Gail clearly ... she basically wanted to know I wasn't a religious nutter who thought a woman's place was in the home," Bridges said.
"We should be left in no doubt, even in 2018, that Gail was right to place such importance on women in politics and women's issues."
Gail McIntosh mans the tongs at a council barbeque in 2016. File photo
Almost all speakers invoked McIntosh's height as a metaphor for her strength and toughness, as well as her great capacity to care.
Alan McIntosh said his sister's height did not always sit well with her as a girl, but she learned to embrace it.
He said she was born in June 1955 to a dairy-farming family near Woodville, the second of four children.
After completing secondary school she studied accounting in Wellington and drove trolley buses and taxis in her spare time, buying her first house at age 22.
She would go on to travel the world, become National's MP for Lyttelton, start her own accountancy business, become a member of the Bay of Plenty District Health Board, be elected to the council and meet partner Jim Plowright.
"She did more in her 62 years than most people would ever dream about."
Guests were encouraged to choose a playing card to leave with Gail, who loved bridge. Photo/George Novak
Public service
- 1990-1993: MP for Lyttelton (National) - 2010-2016: Member of the Bay of Plenty District Health Board - 2013: Elected to Tauranga City Council - 2016: Re-elected to Tauranga City Council for a second term
