KEY POINTS:
The celebrities dotted among mourners at the farewell for "a bloody good bloke" near Nelson yesterday indicated that this was no ordinary funeral.
One of New Zealand's wealthiest men, multi-millionaire Eric Watson, was saying goodbye to his father after his sudden death.
It was muggy and overcast in Richmond, as around 100 people gathered at Ruby's Cafe and Restaurant on the main road after the death last Sunday of 70-year-old Brian Watson.
Watson was found dead at Merry Lodge, the brick and cedar home overlooking Tasman Bay that he shared with his second wife Karen.
It was she who found him dead the morning after the Warriors trounced the Broncos at Mt Smart Stadium. Usually they would have been with Eric Watson watching the game, but Watson had decided to stay in Nelson instead.
Nephew Nathan Court said the family was unsure how his uncle had died.
When asked how Watson was the week before, Court said that he had been feeling unwell.
Watson was, according to people the Herald on Sunday spoke to, something of a loveable rogue, gregarious and outgoing. A bowling mate - Watson was a gold-star member of Richmond and Nelson clubs - said he was a great raconteur. Court described him as "one of the best bullshit artists around".
Watson took over Ruby's just six months ago, after selling Canberra House, an upmarket Nelson bed-and-breakfast he and Karen ran for several years.
"A lot of people didn't know he was Eric's dad," friend Matt Bouterey said. "He was proud of Eric, but he wasn't one to go boasting about it."
From all accounts Watson, who had two sons and a daughter from his first marriage and two step-daughters, was very much his own man."He was a huge race man, loved his horses," Bouterey said. "He loved anything, really. He just liked to see things do well. It [his death] is really sad.
"He was a good bloke."
He also got on extremely well with his son's former wife, Nicky Watson. The admiration was mutual. "He was the best father-in-law that I ever could have wished for. He was a true gentleman. On my and Eric's wedding day, Eric's filly Grand Archway won the AJC Oaks, and Brian decided we should rename her Nicky's Archway."
With regard to Eric Watson's loss, she said: "I can't comprehend the pain of losing my father, but I know from pain comes strength."
Both she and another former partner of Eric Watson's, Lisa Hendrickson, attended the funeral, as did his children; 12-year-old Sam and Lucas, Eric Watson and Hendrickson's infant son, were also there.
Court said he expected the families would band together to keep the restaurant going.
"No one has really thought about it much. But I'm sure that between us and Eric, we will do it."
