Balloon victims soul mates from the start

Howard Cox pictured with their pets Jake and Brock. Photo / Supplied

A couple killed in the Carterton balloon crash were soul mates whose love for each other was clear from the start, their children say.

Howard and Diana Cox, who married in 1995 after raising children from previous marriages, were among the 11 people who died when the hot air balloon they were in struck powerlines and was engulfed by flames on Saturday, January 7.

Howard's children, Jeremy Cox and Sarah Scarlett, and Diana's children, Vidi Chandra and Vin Manhaas, paid tribute to the couple in a statement today.

Howard, 71, and Diana, 63, were adored parents and grandparents who shared a love of animals and established a successful property portfolio together in the Wellington suburb of Mornington.

Diana was born in Westport and grew up in Motueka before moving to Wellington, where she worked in various corporate roles.

A keen gardener, she was active in the Wellington Rose Society and landscaped the couple's investment properties.

She was a talented sewer who made clothes for herself and her family, and an adept cook who who made preserves, chutneys and jams from fruit from her mother's abundant garden in Motueka.

Howard was born in Nottingham, England, and moved to the country he fell in love with at the age of 34, making New Zealand his family's permanent home.

He worked as a heating engineer before moving into senior sales and marketing roles until his retirement.

Howard was passionate about family, food and wine, and would regale everyone with funny stories at family roast dinners.

In the last year he had won his battle with prostate cancer - an ordeal that led to him volunteering recently as a driver for the Mary Potter Hospice and the Cancer Society.

Their children said the couple lived a wonderful, loving and fun-filled life together.

"Howard and Diana were soul mates, their obvious love, respect and adoration of each other was clear from the start."

The animal-lovers' constant companion for 10 years was their black flat-coated retriever Jake, and more recently the equally adored Brock.

They were regularly seen as SPCA volunteers, collecting donations on weekends.

Their children said they were fabulous parents and grandparents to their five grandchildren, and were "always supportive, encouraging and loving and incredibly proud of them all".

"Their many friends and family will remember them for their love and wonderful friendship."

The couple will also be missed by the tenants of their sought-after investment properties - many of whom they were friends or stand-in parents for.

Among the dozens of tributes to the couple on a website set up in their memory, former tenants Karen and Mark Gollner said they had become dear friends who helped them countless times with raising their little boy Tavin, who was born in 2008.

"Living overseas, far away from our families, they were his 'grandpa/ma' that lived a few houses further down, and he loved to visit them."

The Gollners had spoken to Howard and Diana on Skype just a few days before the crash, telling them how much they were looking forward to the flight.

"Sadly, this turned out to be a disaster."

Others spoke of a wonderful, loving couple who were good friends and landlords.

The couple will be farewelled at a service on Tuesday.