Biker's funeral tribute scuttled

Harvey Murray. Photo / Supplied

A widow's wish to have the body of her bike-loving husband escorted to the crematorium by family and friends on motorcycles has been ruined.

Jan Murray of Tokoroa is devastated that her plans to give husband Harvey a "true bikie send-off" to Taupo crematorium cannot go ahead because it's been shut by the Maui gas crisis.

Mr Murray, 63, died suddenly in his sleep early on Saturday.

He and Mrs Murray had watched the Australia v Wales World Cup bronze final, and he decided to go to bed first.

"He said, 'Don't go to sleep in the chair', and told me he loved me. Then he didn't wake up. It's earth-shattering," she said.

"He was more a true bikie and I was a wannabe. He was just a really lovely person: generous, kind, loving, fun and staunch."

Mrs Murray said bikies traditionally escort deceased friends to their final resting spot. But because the Maui pipeline crack had caused the closure of several crematoriums, her wish for her husband could not come true.

Mr Murray's funeral will be held in Tokoroa at 1pm today and it is likely he will then be taken for cremation in Hamilton, which Mrs Murray said was too far for friends to escort the hearse on their bikes.