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The former wife of New Zealand motorbike speed legend Burt Munro, who was immortalised in the movie The World's Fastest Indian, has died aged 98.
Beryl Watson, who was a resident at the Jervois Rest Home in Herne Bay, was born in Melbourne in 1908 before moving to Invercargill with her family.
She met Munro at a dance and the pair married when she was 17. The couple had four children before divorcing in the 1950s. She later remarried.
In 1967, Munro broke the world land speed record on a 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle. His life was celebrated in the 2005 movie starring Sir Anthony Hopkins. The couple's eldest daughter June Aitken, 81, said her parents loved each other very much and stayed in touch after they divorced.
She described her mother, who lived on Waiheke Island for a large part of her life, as strong and active. "She used to be quite a speedster in her Mini around Waiheke a few years ago. Some of the grandchildren wouldn't go in the Mini because she went too fast. She ended up crashing off the road."
But Mrs Watson did not see The World's Fastest Indian. "She didn't say why," Mrs Aitken said. "Perhaps it would have hurt her if she saw it."
