Ron Leonard, the island’s ‘Mr Fix It’ in council roading and drainage matters and volunteer fire chief for 29 years, has passed away.
Mr Leonard joined the volunteer fire brigade in 1968, serving for 48 years before retiring in May 2016. He was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal in 2008 for his fire service contribution.
“This is a bit embarrassing,” he told Gulf News at the time. “There are many people out there doing really good work. The other brigade members – we’re all doing the same work. I just get the paper work.”
“Fire service aside,” the story continued, “Ron has also been the friendly, genuinely helpful face of first the Waiheke County and then Auckland City Council for the past 32 years. These days his title is ‘contracts manager, transport’ but he has effectively been the works foreman forever – and what he doesn’t know about the island isn’t worth knowing.”
•Geoff Cummings and Richard Jones
Full story in this weeks Gulf News… Out Now!!!
