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Kenneth Prebble, a former Anglican archdeacon in Auckland, will be farewelled today by his large and distinguished family.
Mr Prebble - who converted to Catholicism and became a professional actor on stage, television and film at 65 after retiring from the church - was a father to six, including former Cabinet minister Richard, retiring State Services Commissioner Mark and Victoria University law professor John.
English-born Kenneth Prebble, an Oxford University graduate, came to New Zealand with wife Mary in 1948 after serving as a British Army captain in the World War II Normandy campaign.
He died on Wednesday, at the age of 93, following a short illness .
Richard Prebble said religion and family played a large part in his father's life.
He credited the academic success of his siblings, four of whom hold PhDs, to his father's decision not to have a TV or radio when they were growing up.
"I thought when I was a child it was because he wasn't interested in TV but the moment we had all left home, he and my mother got a television set and became avid Coronation St fans," said Mr Prebble. "He had given it up for us, but he never told us he had given it up for us."
The family grew up in a landmark Auckland house, the two-storeyed manse opposite St Paul's Church in Symonds St.
Kenneth Prebble had 27 grandchildren and step-grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren.
