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Christ’s College
- 2014 In Memoriam
4948
Aged 87
Stephen
Pringle Graham
Peter and Muriel Graham’s three sons, Gar (4322),
Keith (4859) and Stephen attended Christ’s
College, all being in Jacobs House. This was a
very different environment from their home at
Franz Josef Glacier on the West Coast where they
were part of a large extended family tourist hotel,
farm and guiding business.
Stephen loved honey so his mother suggested he
get some hives and expanded that love to also
producing honey mead, which was tested in the
lab at school and by the master, Mr Tothill, both
received good commendations. On leaving school
he spent a year with a North Island beekeeper
but the lure of the mountains couldn’t be ignored
so he returned home to keep bees and follow the
family tradition as a mountain guide. At 20 he
contracted rheumatic fever spending 17 weeks in
Christchurch Hospital before returning home to
bees and search and rescue trips.
His first trip over Graham Saddle to the
Hermitage and back over Copland Pass was
when he was 7, together with his mother and
siblings. Over the years he made many trips
over Copland Pass, the last when he was 67
accompanying Fay and son Mark – there were
many stories to tell in the huts at night.
Around 1960 he purchased the local store and
tearooms and contracted to provide three meals
a day over 3.5 years for 60 builders of the THC
Hotel at Franz Josef, its opening coinciding with
the Haast Pass opening in 1965. In 1966 Stephen
married Fay Perkins, who had come to Franz
Josef as the Head Receptionist at the THC Hotel,
and together they built a large motor inn, which
they operated until 1981. Their two children
were then at boarding school in Christchurch so
decided to make their home between Prebbleton
and Lincoln with idyllic views of the Southern
Alps.
Stephen took to sheep and cropping farming, in
addition to planting and covering two acres of
blueberries for export and local market supply
with hobby beekeeping pollinating this crop.
After 12 relaxing months in Christchurch they
missed the contact with tourists so much they
started hosting bed and breakfast guests in their
home, Menteith.
Greatly interested in genealogy, Stephen spent
many hours researching the family tree and
then treading the ground of his forebears in
Scotland while on an OE trip celebrating 25
years of marriage. Over the years there have
been numerous visits to mountainous countries
around the world.
Skiing has been a big part of his life, only
reluctantly stopping when about 83. Most winter
family trips were made to Wanaka where three
generations would gather for fun together, a
legacy which still continues. More recently
Stephen developed an interest in model yachts.
Stephen died suddenly on the way to the airport
after a great weeks holiday with family and
friends on 1 October 2014 and is survived by his
wife Fay, son Mark (9969) daughter Stephanie
and 2 grand-daughters.