The brother of a former Wairarapa man killed in the Pike River Mine disaster has described his younger brother as a private man who loved his family and the outdoors.
Francis Marden, a building contractor, was one of the 29 people who died in the West Coast mine last week.
His older brother, Billy Marden, a builder in the Coromandel, said Francis was a fantastic brother: "He was a great person, a very private person."
The family was hurting, he said. His parents, Peter and Hertha, had travelled to Greymouth from Alfredton to be near the scene. The disaster had come as a huge shock to everyone.
"Those things always happen to someone else."
Francis' love of the outdoors had drawn him to Runanga, on the West Coast, a year ago, Mr Marden said.
"He loved the mountains and the climbing - and the isolation. He was happy there."
Francis had been down the mine as a builder "quite a bit" this year and enjoyed the work.
Despite the assurances of mine bosses and the police, Mr Marden said it was difficult not to think more could have been done.
"I would have thought there would have been a lot more technology involved ... why wasn't the whole mine monitored?"
He was disappointed that a rescue effort had not been possible.
"What do I know, but why didn't someone just run in there ... I mean, someone can walk on the moon so there must be a suit [available to allow it]."
He said he hoped mine safety around the country would improve as a result.
"I guess the positive is obviously that they should organise these mines a bit better."
Recovering the bodies would allow the families proper sendoffs, but he said he was not confident that would be the case.
Francis Marden is survived by partner Lauryn and two young sons.
A prayer service in honour of the 29 killed in the mine and their families will be held at St Mary's Catholic church in Carterton on Thursday at 5.30pm.
Francis Skiddy Marden grew up in Alfredton with his sister, Heidi, and brothers David and Billy after being born in Concord, Massachusetts, in the United States.
He attended Hadlow School and Rathkeale College in Masterton, and was a boarder at Rugby house from 1983-87.
After college, he attended Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design in Auckland, before heading back to the US, and worked as a builder in Massachusetts for 10 years.
Before moving to Runanga, he lived in Tairua and Hikuai, north of Whangamata, where his two sons were born.
Mine victim a 'private' family man
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