KEY POINTS:
"One of the great totaras in the forest of Tane has fallen."
Those words were in the message delivered from Kawerau iwi to Hugh and Angus Fletcher, sons of the late icon of New Zealand construction, Sir James Fletcher.
Accompanying that message was a coffin made from Kawerau totara, a tribute to the difference he had made to the people in the region.
The coffin carried Sir James at his funeral service at 11am at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell yesterday. He died last week, aged 92.
Three hundred turned out, including the businessman and former All Black captain Sir Wilson Whineray, Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias, who is married to Hugh, and Government ministers Parekura Horomia and Judith Tizard.
Ill health prevented Lady Vaughan Fletcher, Sir James' wife of 65 years, from attending.
The service, conducted by the Anglican Bishop of Auckland, John Paterson, saw tributes flow from Sir James' grandsons and David Sadler, a longtime Fletcher employee.
Grandson James - son of the late Jim Fletcher, killed by an intruder at his Bay of Plenty bach in 1993 - represented the family. His tribute revealed a more private side to the man best known for his business achievements.
He told of how his grandfather had met his wife. In 1942, as the new managing director of his father's company, Sir James was in need of a secretary. A friend had suggested Vaughan Gunthorp, and the two met in a coffeeshop in Vulcan Lane.
Her strong will was apparent from the first meeting, said Mr Fletcher, when she insisted she be paid £5 a week and to work on the accounts as well. They married in June 1942.
"Jim proposed in March but told Vaughan they would not marry until the accounts had been finalised."
Sir James' well-known love of racehorses ran alongside a love for cars, which he ran "into hedges with great panache", said Mr Fletcher.
Sir James was also particular about his clothes - in particular, shoes. The love of fine shoes stemmed from his youth, when a podiatrist had told him how he had "perfect feet".
Since then, Mr Fletcher said, his grandfather always had his shoes handmade, in either pig- or calf-skin. And the shoes would always have to be taken back to London for repairs.
He was a voracious reader, in particular business journals, romance and western novels.
Bob Hope and John Wayne movies were also favourites.
"Jim had a great life. He achieved a great deal, but never rested on what he had achieved.
"He never complained - not even in the last few months when his health was failing," Mr Fletcher said.
David Sadler, whose links with the family go back 45 years, said Sir James pioneered many company benefits for employees, starting the credit union, medical cover and super schemes at Fletcher companies.
Mr Sadler said JC - as he was known among friends - was the "epitome of a decent human being".
