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Ian Mitchell
Member - Molesworth Steering CommitteeMember - Marlborough Conservation BoardLand Districts WorkedMarlborough Land DistrictBiography Originally published in the Marlborough Express 5 March 2024
Harry Broad is a writer, and a friend of the late Ian “Mitch” Mitchell.
The recent death of Ian Balfour “Mitch” Mitchell marks the passing of a man who has been a mainstay of Marlborough for nearly 50 years. He had an outstanding working career, was a huge family man and a tremendous contributor to the local communities.
Ian was a man passionately interested in people and the concerns they were dealing with. He loved to find a way through the woods and reach a helpful conclusion. He had excellent people management skills, in part because it was never about himself but always about helping others, often with a glint of mischief in his eyes.
He was a man who treasured the land, the sea, the mountains and the rivers of Marlborough, and their protection and advancement was in a real sense, his life’s work.
His work in helping the local iwi get Omaka Marae established was typical of Ian’s approach. He loved being at the sharp end of the shovel and was never one to get bogged down in esoteric arguments.
Kiley Nepia, who spoke at the funeral on behalf of the local tangata whenua, acknowledged Ian’s contribution to the marae over 40 years and how he had been made patron in recognition of his unstinting efforts.
Born in 1943, Ian grew up in Wellington, the son of Sir Hamilton and Lady Frances Mitchell. The redoubtable Sir Hamilton (known as Pete) was a national figure as president of the RSA. Ian had a wonderful stable childhood, but early attempts at staving off the boredom of early adolescence often led to visits to the family home by the local community constable. Ian and his older brother Bill built huts in the Tinakori Hills and lit the odd fire that got away … and then there was the incident of all the car tyres in their street being let down.
He attended Northland School and Wellington College, where his main claim to fame was being captain of the first XI hockey team for three years. Then Ian chose a career in farming, perhaps influenced by time spent on his uncle’s farm in Shannon. At the age of 21 he went down to Lincoln College in Christchurch to study for a three-year Diploma in Valuation and Farm Management, having spent two years working on three farms to complete the practical side of the course.
He won a rural farm cadetship which gave him funding and mentoring, in return for being bonded to a government department on graduation.
All students had to live in Ivey Hall for the first year at Lincoln, and Ian quickly became known for his incredibly orderly living habits. ”We used to visit Mitch’s room - not to see him but to marvel at his bed-making skills. Not only that, but all his clothes were laid out very neatly and it was something to behold,” recalls fellow student Bill Wills.
Ian was also on the Lincoln student executive and one capping stunt involved the students, all dressed up as waiters, carrying a bottle of whisky, “The Spirit of the South”, from the Mayor of Dunedin to the Mayor of Christchurch in relays, running day and night. It was a very close-knit course and their reunions over the subsequent decades were something Mitch always treasured.
He married Keren who was to be his partner of 57 years (“Meeting her was my lucky day,” he once said to me) and she has described living with him as like sometimes being in a whirlwind. He was constantly on the go and full of plans and ideas.
After graduating, Mitch joined the Department of Lands and Survey in 1967.
In the mid-1970s he became the youngest Commissioner of Crown Lands ever appointed and his long-term love affair with Marlborough began.
Ian had an enduring relationship with Molesworth Station stretching back nearly 50 years. One of the first tributes read out at the funeral came from Don and Ann Reid, who ran Molesworth very successfully for more than two decades and who said that Ian’s support was “greatly appreciated” and acknowledged the special relationship that Ian had formed with the previous manager, the legendary Bill Chisholm who ran the place for 36 years.
On the Molesworth Steering Committee, which Ian was a member of for many years, he and his mate Hamish Ensor were true circuit breakers. They understood the arguments around the confluence of conservation, recreation and production and how to draw them together for the sake of the station.
Following a distinguished contribution to the Department of Lands and Survey, he became General Manager of the Marlborough Catchment Board. When that was absorbed into a regional council, he worked for them, and then decided it was time to strike out on his own. He and Keren purchased an apple orchard out at Cranbrook near Blenheim and then converted it into grapes.
His contributions to community organisations, especially around resource management were tremendous. He was a Marlborough District councillor for six years, chairing its environment committee where he did an excellent job of allowing discussion to flourish but then pushing it towards a conclusion when it was becoming too wayward.
He was on the Marlborough Conservation Board, the Tuia 250 celebrations, was a strong supporter of the Southern Valleys Irrigation Scheme and the Hospital Equipment Trust. Gerald Hope also paid tribute to Ian’s contribution to the setting up of the highly successful Marlborough Wine Research Centre, now the New Zealand Wine Centre.
But the achievement Ian was most proud of was the family life he and Keren had created with their three daughters and their families. On a sports day you could generally find Ian out there in support of the grandkids, regardless of the weather.
“You were a wonderful Dad, dependable, consistent and reliable, even though quite opinionated generally. I could always rely on you, and the feeling of security has been invaluable,” said his daughter Sarah at the funeral.
“Dad was a lover of people and so interested in their stories. He and mum were very generous and hospitable as hosts,” recalls daughter Nik.
Ian loved his tennis, his Beef and Burgundy lunches (a cunning excuse to sample fine wines, he once said), and he and Keren became great travellers in their retirement, both in New Zealand and overseas.
Looking back on his life, it is hard to see how he could have fitted any more in. Ian was a giver in all circumstances, and generosity was his byword.
As Bill Wills said: “Ian was a man who was very easy to love, and we all did.”
Ian Mitchell died peacefully at home on February 4, 2024.